Posts by Simon

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Simon

I was accused of going to Thailand for sex tourism when I was actually on a mental health break.

Ah, the linguistic tricks. I don't believe there was any "mental health" involved, that's just a cover story for sympathy. But even if there were, it's possible for both things to be true at the same time - Lloyd went for a break AND sex tourism.

I mean, he's not actually denied that he had sex with at least one sex worker while he was there, has he?

"dated a sex worker" is another linguistic trick to try to change the reality of what he did.

But I sort of had a job offer to do a job. I know I would have hated

Of course you would have hated it Lloyd, it would involve actual work!

Bemoaning that he "has" to do the exJW stuff when it's entirely his own choice to do so.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Simon

Lloyd only plans about a day ahead from what I can gather. He has no long term thinking. Does he think he can still be begging for donations in 10 years time? Is this his retirement plan? It's simply unsustainable. But for a lazy work-shy grifter like him, anything beats getting a real job and providing for his family.

You can only do the Chicken Little routine and claim that the sky is falling so many times before people will get tired of it. Even the most ardent supporters will eventually wise up to the fact that he's in a perpetual state of pleading for more donations for "stuff" ... and yet where are all the things he's promised to deliver using those donations?

So part of me wonders if he's trying to squeeze as much water out of the flannel (money out of the idiots) while he can before he moves on. Nothing he's doing suggests he's making long term plans, he's not head-down back to basics focusing on creating content, and getting back to what he claims is his focus.

When he does finally piss off,we should all have a big online party!

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Simon

It is now racist for white people to call out another white guy for using Thai prostitutes

He's late to the wokery BS if he thinks calling something racist still has any effect. Anyone knows as soon as you do that you've lost the argument. Because the list of racist things has grown to include everything: water, the countryside, math ... it's hard to keep up with all the claims.

And for the record, no one is saying anything racist, merely pointing out the terrible effect sex tourism has on young women in certain countries, many of whom are trafficked or coerced into it.

Anyone furthering the sex trade, especially in those countries, is very likely a rapist. They know it. We know it.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Simon

OK somebody enlighten me. What does it cost to make a youtube video? I assume there is a little equipment required; video camera, a computer, maybe a sound system. I suspect lots of youtubers get by with the computer and nothing else if its equipped with camera and microphone. He already has those.

The starting cost is about $200, a cheap phone is all you need (and most people will already have one more than capable). You don't need fancy production equipment because you're not creating the next Star Wars blockbuster - it's meant to be about the message and the content (right?) and who cares about fancy lighting? These are temporary videos, quickly past their sell-by-date. No one is watching them in 10 years time like they're Titanic or Avatar.

I can't see where he has to spend money to put out content. Of course he thinks he needs to be paid to do this. Sorry Lloyd, it appears that nobody is buying what you're selling.

He doesn't need and likely doesn't spend the money on video production. He spends the money on, ehem, "other activities", but for some reason people won't donate when you tell them you want to go whoreing in foreign lands...

The "activism" is just a front to raise money from the gullible, for a cause they are more likely to support, because they have their own unresolved issues.

Your costs can be as little as you want or as much as you want to pretend and everything in between. None of it is really necessary.

22

AI Generated Art - Impact on Artists

by Simon in

unless you've been hibernating under a rock for the last couple of years, you're probably aware that ai is the new hotness.. chatgpt gets a lot of attention but equally amazing is how capable ai is at generating art.

if you'd been ask to name anything that would be the last holdout for humans, creative arts such as writing, painting, and music would probably be some of the things at the top of the list.. yet those seem to be the things that ai can do best.. it's fascinating to use the tools, but one thing you realize is that they are just combining patterns and shapes, there isn't yet any real "intelligence", artificial or otherwise.. as an example, you can ask it to create a painting in the style or a particular artist, with a whole raft of things you want to include.

it will do a great job on first glance, but can often give people more arms or fingers than is normal, and lamp-posts can grow to different heights, like trees.

Simon

how do those who have done this feel about what "you" have created? Do you feel like it is your artwork?

Yes, because I learned how to use it, I studied the tech and how to get the best out of it, I spent the time experimenting with different models, different parameters, and different prompts.

Did modern artists create their pictures themselves? They didn't make the paints and canvases like artists used to, maybe they use a camera they didn't invent to capture an image to paint ...

22

AI Generated Art - Impact on Artists

by Simon in

unless you've been hibernating under a rock for the last couple of years, you're probably aware that ai is the new hotness.. chatgpt gets a lot of attention but equally amazing is how capable ai is at generating art.

if you'd been ask to name anything that would be the last holdout for humans, creative arts such as writing, painting, and music would probably be some of the things at the top of the list.. yet those seem to be the things that ai can do best.. it's fascinating to use the tools, but one thing you realize is that they are just combining patterns and shapes, there isn't yet any real "intelligence", artificial or otherwise.. as an example, you can ask it to create a painting in the style or a particular artist, with a whole raft of things you want to include.

it will do a great job on first glance, but can often give people more arms or fingers than is normal, and lamp-posts can grow to different heights, like trees.

Simon

The malformed hands are really ugly, but they are already working on the problem and I hear it is fixed already on some models.

Hands are interesting. Apparently, lots of human artists struggle with them, so don't include them in paintings. Factor in that a lot of pictures are portraits, and maybe don't include them, the number of examples in the training set is going to be a lot less than for faces which it's often amazing at, certainly by comparison.

Remember, it's not really AI, there is no I ... it doesn't know what fingers really are or how they work, how a hand can change shape whether it's fingers curled round an umbrella, the handle of a mug, pointing or waving ... which is why it often get's the general idea of where hands go but they don't always make much sense.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Simon

I could have $1m in the bank, and still claim I don't have $1k available to buy myself a new, much needed, GPU for my "so importantz activisiming".

Maybe some kind hearted supporter would reach into their pocket and buy me one. And I could then make a video about how grateful I am and how awsome they are for their support. Make a big song and dance about it, to maybe generate some feel-goods that other people want to be involved too!

See how it works? How people can be manipulated? It's all nonsense. Few people who are making multiple trips abroad per year and equipping studios and the like really "need" money. They may prefer to spend other people's money than dip into their own funds, but, well, more fool those people for being so willing to send it without really verifying whether it's genuinely required or really going to further some "cause".

NOTE: I don't need anyone to buy mea GPU, it's just an example. Please post NVidia 4090 GPUs to "101 You've been had, Sucker Street, Scammerton"

42

England: Failure to Report Child Abuse to be Illegal

by notsurewheretogo in

people who work with children in england will be legally required to report child sexual abuse or face prosecution under government plans.. .

the move - which is subject to a consultation - was recommended last year by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (iicsa).. .

the home secretary told the bbc she wanted to correct one of the "biggest national scandals".. .

Simon

Could it also be that a good percentage of Labour voters are Asian in many areas and they put getting votes ahead of doing the right thing ? Is this situation as much political as social?

It's absolutely that. In return for block voting, they turn a blind eye to the crimes and pander to their demands. So a minority becomes the majority when it comes to influence.

That's how Islam works, so they can take over and expand their filth and corruption.

42

England: Failure to Report Child Abuse to be Illegal

by notsurewheretogo in

people who work with children in england will be legally required to report child sexual abuse or face prosecution under government plans.. .

the move - which is subject to a consultation - was recommended last year by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (iicsa).. .

the home secretary told the bbc she wanted to correct one of the "biggest national scandals".. .

Simon

But now the person is open to being accused of filing a false report and defamation and legal entanglements,having to testify etc..

That doesn't happen if you report a crime / what you know. It's up to the legal system to verify and prosecute.

There is no legal risk to reporting any crime.

22

AI Generated Art - Impact on Artists

by Simon in

unless you've been hibernating under a rock for the last couple of years, you're probably aware that ai is the new hotness.. chatgpt gets a lot of attention but equally amazing is how capable ai is at generating art.

if you'd been ask to name anything that would be the last holdout for humans, creative arts such as writing, painting, and music would probably be some of the things at the top of the list.. yet those seem to be the things that ai can do best.. it's fascinating to use the tools, but one thing you realize is that they are just combining patterns and shapes, there isn't yet any real "intelligence", artificial or otherwise.. as an example, you can ask it to create a painting in the style or a particular artist, with a whole raft of things you want to include.

it will do a great job on first glance, but can often give people more arms or fingers than is normal, and lamp-posts can grow to different heights, like trees.

Simon

Yeah, I can see the value of genuine original art going up - people want things that are authentic. And in a way, I see it like music - should people really be getting ultra rich and living off the work they did one afternoon? Or should they be paid for when they actually work and do a concert / performance? I know it's a long-tail, and the few who make it big suck up all the money, but people still want to see good local musicians even though we live in a world with Spotify. Art will be the same, people will pay for the real thing, and real artists can produce that, copiers can't.

And yes, you can often spot the AI art because people are not selective enough to filter out the ones with weird anomalies that are the giveaways. If you are selective and work at the prompts the results can be outstanding, and sometimes the "happy accidents" (Bob Ross, right?) are what make things better.

Ultimately, it is just another tool to use and future artists may be the ones who master the new tools better.

Software development also has the same challenges - many feel threatened with ChatGPT (that can write code) but unlike art the viewer doesn't really know if it makes sense or is full of nonsense anomalies (sometimes it is). You still need expertise, and it isn't writing the entire app or integration or talking to the business to extract what they really need (which rarely matches what they ask for). The people who copy-and-paste code off StackOverflow will still be the same clueless people creating crap when they use ChatGPT if they use it as a shortcut and not a tool to learn with.