CannibalisticApple's recent activity
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Comment on Xania Monet - How Was I supposed to Know? (2025) in ~music
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Comment on Study suggests that the Universe's expansion 'is now slowing, not speeding up' in ~space
CannibalisticApple Link Parent...why is my first thought "ah, so maybe we do already live in hell"?wall of fire at the edge of our heliosphere
...why is my first thought "ah, so maybe we do already live in hell"?
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Comment on Pathfinder 1 airship overflies Golden Gate bridge: pictures in ~transport
CannibalisticApple Link ParentJust from a cursory internet search, they tend to have lower emissions than airplanes and are more environmentally friendly. This article has multiple people strongly support using it for cargo....Just from a cursory internet search, they tend to have lower emissions than airplanes and are more environmentally friendly. This article has multiple people strongly support using it for cargo. For one that's a bit less heavy on jargon, this article goes into a lot of the pros of airships.
To that end, I could also see it being a good alternative for air travel in the same vein as trains, at least for domestic travel routes. Air Nostrum plans to start using ten airships in 2026 for routes in Spain. One big plus is just the comfort since they're not trying to cram hundreds of people into a tiny plane. I think some people would be happy to fly for four hours with adequate leg room instead of one hour in a tiny cramped seat.
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Comment on US teacher shot by six-year-old student awarded $10m by jury in ~news
CannibalisticApple Link ParentYep. This incident was a failure on multiple levels. The parents are obviously at serious fault for allowing the kid to have access to a gun and be able to take it to school, as well as allowing...Yep. This incident was a failure on multiple levels. The parents are obviously at serious fault for allowing the kid to have access to a gun and be able to take it to school, as well as allowing the kid's behavior to get to that level. Because even with criminally lax gun safety, a six year old deciding to take a gun to school to shoot their teacher is just... I can't even begin on how messed up that kid has to be to do that at six.
The school is at fault for not acting on reports the kid had a gun that day. From what I recall when this first happened, the teacher had also previously expressed concerns about the child being very violent and aggressive, which also went unheeded by the school. The school absolutely failed that teacher and that child.
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Comment on California voters pass Prop 50 to redraw the state's congressional maps in ~society
CannibalisticApple Link ParentI got a text today asking to oppose mid-decade redistricting in Indiana. It's very rare for me to get non-Republican-leaning political texts because Indiana is already very red (I genuinely don't...I got a text today asking to oppose mid-decade redistricting in Indiana. It's very rare for me to get non-Republican-leaning political texts because Indiana is already very red (I genuinely don't even bother voting Democrat in state/local primaries because often times there will be only one or zero Democrat candidates for positions), and they're trying to make it even redder.
So I agree it's not healthy in the long term, but I'd say it is critically necessary right now because other states are trying to turn even more red and skew the national scale even further than it already is. This not the time to take the higher road. The future of the United States (and arguably also the entire world, ridiculous as it sounds) is at stake.
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Comment on Dick Cheney dies at 84 in ~society
CannibalisticApple Link ParentGenerally I agree. The fact I can respect his willingness to speak against Trump feels like it says more about the state of the rest of the Republican party than his character. The bar should not...Generally I agree. The fact I can respect his willingness to speak against Trump feels like it says more about the state of the rest of the Republican party than his character. The bar should not be this low.
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Comment on Humble Choice - November 2025 in ~games
CannibalisticApple Link ParentI searched it up because I'm also curious, and it seems that on top of that, an update last month had some bad bugs that broke some enemies' AI. So players were already upset because that's a...I searched it up because I'm also curious, and it seems that on top of that, an update last month had some bad bugs that broke some enemies' AI. So players were already upset because that's a major bug that absolutely should have been caught in beta testing...
And then a major content creator for the gamr named LegendofTotalWar announced he was done with the game. And I guess that was the last straw. I didn't watch the video, but he also made this post to Youtube detailing some troubling history with Creative Assembly. Apparently he was one of the few content creators willing to call them out and criticize them, and it ended with him leaving the partnership program due to horrible treatment meant to push him out without blacklisting him. That's a highly simplified summary, and I recommend giving it a read if you're curious. It definitely doesn't paint a good picture of the company's overall practices.
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Comment on Dick Cheney dies at 84 in ~society
CannibalisticApple Link ParentWell, he did criticize Trump a fair amount after January 6 and actively spoke against him for the 2024 election season. That's the one bit of respect I have for him. It might have been too late to...That's the one bit of respect I have for him. It might have been too late to really matter, but far too many Republican politicians continued to sing Trump's praises after January 6. And he did something right with his kids, because his daughter Liz torpedoed her own political career to investigate January 6 and actively speak against him. She was the only sitting Republican I remember being so critical against him while still in office.
I disagree with much of Cheney's politics, but I can respect him for being willing to prioritize America's well being over the Republican party's twisted interests.
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Comment on Something that always bothered me about the Jonathan Majors trial in ~talk
CannibalisticApple Link ParentI don't know enough about the trial to talk about that aspect, but I really do think a major part of Majors getting dragged by media was the fact he was cast as Kang when everything went down. The...I don't know enough about the trial to talk about that aspect, but I really do think a major part of Majors getting dragged by media was the fact he was cast as Kang when everything went down. The trial didn't just affect his own career, it impacted plans for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Which, as a reminder, was quite possibly the biggest movie franchise at the time. He was set to be Marvel's next big villain, so changing plans wasn't exactly trivial like when some TV shows or movie franchises write out a character due to issues with the actor.
So that automatically brought him a LOT more scrutiny than the others, both from professional media and from social media. I don't keep up with celebrity news (I don't think I'd even heard about Shia Labeauf), but the sheer scale of the impact from Kang's actor being caught up in the trial came up in any geek-adjacent space because again, Marvel is a MASSIVE franchise. I honestly don't know if his case would have gotten nearly as much publicity and attention if he wasn't cast in that role.
Him being black may have had an impact (who am I kidding, racists definitely jumped on it), but he was in a position that would've gotten tons of scrutiny compared to the others no matter his skin color.
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How do you survive time change?
It's that time of year again. The time where we randomly decide to delay our pets' dinner by an hour for no explicable reason. My dog has been getting antsy and frantic for her 5 pm dinner...
It's that time of year again. The time where we randomly decide to delay our pets' dinner by an hour for no explicable reason.
My dog has been getting antsy and frantic for her 5 pm dinner starting at 4 pre-time change, so time change is going to be rough. Today I fed her at 4:30 EST/5:30 DT (Dog Time), but holding on that long was a challenge with how frantic she gets. We've joked about just leaving the house for an hour or so every day just to evade her. As the week goes on, I fear it may become less of a joke. (No advice needed for the record. We go through this every year, she'll adapt... Eventually.)
So how about the rest of you dealing with time change? How gracefully do your pets accept the sudden schedule change? Anyone else considering just becoming daily regulars at your nearest store?
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
CannibalisticApple LinkAlright, card has been rolled! Mode: Custom Bingo! Finished 0/24 Transformation Restoration Connection Change Quantity Maneuver Love Faith Erosion Perspective Organization Recursion ★ Emergence...Alright, card has been rolled!
Mode: Custom Bingo! Finished 0/24 Transformation Restoration Connection Change Quantity Maneuver Love Faith Erosion Perspective Organization Recursion ★ Emergence Truth Endurance Vulnerability Destruction Harmony Unorthodox Fragmentation Happiness Balance Tradition Fight This will be an interesting one. Part of my goal for this month is to just finally finish some games dang it!! I know I was at the final stretch of Eastward, that's why I got sidetracked by the in-game game since it was my literal last chance to play it. And I also have a ton of games I need to finish like Omori (which I doubt I'll finish this month, but I can at least get back to it), Cassette Beasts, Coromon, Gotham Knights, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, even Portal 2 which I started on one of the other backlog burner events!!
And there's also The Guardian which is on my PS4... And Spider-Man... And Nier: Automata, Persona 5 Royal (after never finishing the original), Horizon Zero Dawn, Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 5, Destroy All Humans...
...I just realized, I think I've only ever completed a single game on my PS4, Stray. And I now have three more games I've yet to touch, along with a few others I downloaded back when they gave away some free games during Covid but never played. And don't get me started on my 3DS library.
So, yeah. I think I'll try to focus on finishing or at least continuing some older games... After I finish the main story of Pokémon Legends Z-A, heh.
Actually, quick question: should a game inside a game count as a separate game? Because Eastward has a game inside it called Earth Born that's a full-fledged game in itself. Which... I just found out can be played as an extra after beating the main game...... *slowly reaches for pillow to scream*
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Comment on Five more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge in ~news
CannibalisticApple Link ParentI don't think this escape had a very high level of preparation. They got caught in part due to DNA left at the scene (and they also dropped a whole crown), and the notoriety of the theft pushed up...I don't think this escape had a very high level of preparation. They got caught in part due to DNA left at the scene (and they also dropped a whole crown), and the notoriety of the theft pushed up the timeline for testing that sample as a priority.
Once I heard a mention of DNA I just knew it was over. You get one thief, it won't be hard to find the others from there. And plenty of people would be willing to call in their friends or acquaintances if they thought they were involved in this given the notoriety.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of October 27 in ~society
CannibalisticApple Link ParentThis one is so ridiculous it actually got a laugh. The article at least. The video... I had to skip through it because it pissed me off. But even the few seconds I did watch had me question how...This one is so ridiculous it actually got a laugh.
The article at least. The video... I had to skip through it because it pissed me off. But even the few seconds I did watch had me question how this got through the quality control stage just for the bill's design alone.
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Comment on Prince Andrew gives up royal titles including Duke of York after 'discussion with King' in ~news
CannibalisticApple Link ParentThanks! I'd seen a comment (possibly one of the deleted ones here) suggesting he couldn't be properly tried in court due to that. Not that I expected there to be enough evidence to justify a trial...Thanks! I'd seen a comment (possibly one of the deleted ones here) suggesting he couldn't be properly tried in court due to that. Not that I expected there to be enough evidence to justify a trial anyway, but if anything new were to come out...
Well, glad to hear it wouldn't have been a roadblock even before revoking his titles.
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Comment on Prince Andrew gives up royal titles including Duke of York after 'discussion with King' in ~news
CannibalisticApple LinkAn update: his titles have now been formally revoked by King Charles and he's being evicted from the royal lodge. He is no longer a prince or part of the royal family. Which I think means he no...He is no longer a prince or part of the royal family. Which I think means he no longer has sovereign immunity and can now be tried in court? Can anyone familiar with British law weigh in on that?
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Comment on Thieves steal crown jewels in four minutes from Louvre Museum in Paris in ~arts
CannibalisticApple Link ParentJust goes to show that committing a heist and other crimes can be easy. It's getting away with it that's hard.Just goes to show that committing a heist and other crimes can be easy. It's getting away with it that's hard.
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Comment on OpenAI says hundreds of thousands of ChatGPT users may show signs of manic or psychotic crisis every week in ~health.mental
CannibalisticApple Link ParentI agree that it likely doesn't induce it out of no where, but instead can feed into and exacerbate existing mental health issues. I think part of the problem is how accessible AI is compared to...I agree that it likely doesn't induce it out of no where, but instead can feed into and exacerbate existing mental health issues.
I think part of the problem is how accessible AI is compared to other accelerants, and how it can also actively reinforce it. With drugs, it's still your own mind, but AI basically serves as an external force, and I think there's a subconscious recognition of the difference. That external "validation" can probably speed things up a lot faster.
I also think of how I've used ChatGPT as a soundboard for story ideas to help settle details. Just having a "conversation" can really help get the creative juices flowing and come up with ideas I wouldn't have thought of just reflecting to myself. I imagine it can "help" people with mental health issues explore their worries or delusions in new directions they wouldn't have thought of.
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Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for November 2025: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
CannibalisticApple LinkI'll be participating again! I think this time, I might dedicate some time to actually finishing some games I left unfinished dang it. I'm particularly thinking of Eastward. I'm at the final...I'll be participating again! I think this time, I might dedicate some time to actually finishing some games I left unfinished dang it. I'm particularly thinking of Eastward. I'm at the final stretch, but got distracted by that stupid arcade game inside the game because I can't play it again after I pass the current checkpoint. I have many other games that I still haven't beaten, because I just... tend to stop, for some stupid reason.
I'll also use this as a push to play my PS4 a bit. I got some games for it I need to try (and others to freaking finish), and I finally hooked it up at a Halloween party with my friends so I can just pop them in!
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Comment on What the hell are we doing with hierarchical tags? in ~tildes
CannibalisticApple Link ParentDepends on how much interpretation you allow. I could see "gooning" be slang for working as henchmen for supervillains.Depends on how much interpretation you allow. I could see "gooning" be slang for working as henchmen for supervillains.
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Comment on What the hell are we doing with hierarchical tags? in ~tildes
CannibalisticApple Link ParentHuh, apparently it didn't show up when I tried entering the tag since I wasn't subscribed to ~humanities.history. It showed up when I searched, but the tag is beneath the cutoff on the search page...Huh, apparently it didn't show up when I tried entering the tag since I wasn't subscribed to ~humanities.history. It showed up when I searched, but the tag is beneath the cutoff on the search page and I figured it was more literal.
I am now mildly disappointed the wizard's curse wouldn't involve a literal monkey's bottom, but at least I get to read a neat article and I'm now subbed to the subgroup!
Thanks for sharing! Definitely worth discussion, I think. And for people unfamiliar with her, I do think it's worth listening blind (which... weird way to put it) first.
My Own Thoughts
So I wouldn't have pegged it as AI, but then, I'm not the best judge of that. I mean... I listen to music primarily for the melody and vocals. I also listen to a LOT of Vocaloid. And I think that adds an important layer to the discussion of AI usage in music compared to other creative fields, which I'll get to in a minute.
Something of important note after looking into Xania Monet a bit more: the lyrics are written by a real human and are NOT AI slop. From a cursory search she uses the app Suno to make the music and vocals. I genuinely have no clue how much musical knowledge she has, one article mentioned she'd put in prompts like music genres, so she may not be able to even read a single musical note. However, the lyrics are poems she wrote.
And the lyrics are good. This song's lyrics are incredibly emotional, it's clearly her own story and comes from the heart. It doesn't match my own life story, but I know it will resonate with a lot of other people. It has a power to it, the same way many other songs do when it comes to such personal experiences.
This comment caught my eye in particular:
My first thought was just how out of touch that comment is. "Yes... Why doesn't this previously unknown song writer write for a well-known singer?" Reality doesn't work that way. And frankly, I'm not sure how to break into the songwriting business without being a singer or partnered with one.
With music, people tend to often pay attention to the singer more than the songwriter. Most of the songwriters I know who merit mention, even when they're not the singer, gained fame through their own music first. Lin Manuel Miranda is a famous example. Toby Fox is getting a lot of jobs. Sia's music led to her becoming songwriter for several famous singers in the US before finally achieving mainstream fame.
If you can't sing though, it's hard to build up that recognition even within the industry. You need a voice, but that voice will be the name attached to the song. It's different from other creative fields being poached by AI like voice acting, because usually voice acting isn't the primary focus of the work. But with music, the voice is everything.
And that brings me back to Vocaloid.
Vocaloid producers still do the majority of work on a song themselves—composing the instrumentals, tuning those instruments, tuning the voice banks, sound mixing, etc.—but ultimately, they use virtual voice banks rather than their own voices. Many producers CAN sing and are incredible, but they first gained recognition from their Vocaloid songs. So many musicians in Japan have gotten their start through Vocaloid in some way, either by being a producer or covering popular songs made with Vocaloid voice banks.
The comparison keeps popping into my head now because of the comment section, particularly the one I quoted. While AI is encroaching on way too much in the creative sphere, when it comes to vocals in music... Well, honestly, there aren't many options for songwriters who don't sing. Like I said, the vocals basically become the "face" of the song. You can't really just hire freelance singers for an entire album's worth of songs because people look for singers more than the songwriter.
In this case, she seems to be using AI for everything but the lyrics, and I'm not a fan of people doing that for instrumentals and composing. One fun thing about composers is picking up on little trends and "trademarks" to their musical style. That's a big part of why Vocaloid producers get so big; the fact they all use the same voice banks put more focus on the music. It's awesome to see how someone's style evolves over time, a lot of producers even remake older songs as they get more experienced.
If you make all of the song through AI, the music loses that personal touch. You can have songs in a dozen genres, but people tend to like musicians because of their personal styles. So I'm not a fan of leaving everything in music to AI.
But... Thanks to a decade-plus of listening to Vocaloid, I also realize now that I don't object as strongly to AI vocals in music. AI vocals feel fairly similar to Vocaloid to me in the sense they're a substitute for the songwriter. So to that end, AI vocals may actually be good by allowing more songwriters to gain the recognition needed to open up business opportunities to work with actual singers, just as Vocaloid does to this day.