Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[G-Man]

Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Why is it that we laugh at somebody getting hurt?

I honestly think it’s deep down in the monkey part of our brains. Cultures that are totally different from each other all still seem to have the “guy falls down and breaks his plate at a fancy party” gag

It’s why Mr Bean is so popular worldwide - that and you can follow it without speaking english

 

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[Raoul Duke]

It’s why Mr Bean is so popular worldwide - that and you can follow it without speaking english

Pakistani Mr. Bean. My life is complete.

 

[Zcott]

You can tell I don't write meme captions and I am obviously a bit tired, but nonetheless.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

If you're going to spend gazillions on a house, I don't understand WHY you want to build it next to a busy street, and next to the power lines. And in part of Mesa, AZ that isn't the best.

Is this a case of too much money? Or too much stupidity?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3615-E-Quenton-Dr-Mesa-AZ-85215/64644910_zpid/

 

[Suzanne Bazemore]

If you're going to spend gazillions on a house, I don't understand WHY you want to build it next to a busy street, and next to the power lines. And in part of Mesa, AZ that isn't the best.

Is this a case of too much money? Or too much stupidity?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3615-E-Quenton-Dr-Mesa-AZ-85215/64644910_zpid/

Photo #21 looks like a lab. If the house needs a lab, maybe it needs to be near a highway.

 

[loop101]

Sorry, but that list is in alphabetical order!

Yeah, I screwed that up so bad I went in to hiding. I even checked the first 3 movies listed, and they were in descending order, so I assume they all were in order.

The closest I can come to redeeming myself is to look at the movies again, and I do see one thing worth mentioning. In the Top 10 grossing movies, only #9 and #10 mention a specific hero's name in the title:

1 1 Avatar $2,787,965,087 2009 [# 1][# 2]
2 1 Titanic $2,187,463,944 1997 [# 3][# 4]
3 3 Star Wars: The Force Awakens $2,068,223,624 2015 [# 5][# 6]
4 4 Avengers: Infinity War film currently playing $2,048,359,754 2018 [# 7][# 8]
5 3 Jurassic World $1,671,713,208 2015 [# 9][# 10]
6 3 The Avengers $1,518,812,988 2012 [# 11][# 12]
7 4 Furious 7 $1,516,045,911 2015 [# 13][# 14]
8 5 Avengers: Age of Ultron $1,405,403,694 2015 [# 15][# 14]
9 9 Black Panther $1,346,913,161 2018 [# 16][# 17]
10 3 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 $1,341,511,219 2011 [# 18][# 19]

But in 5 of the worst 10 money losers, including the 3 absolute worst, a specific hero's name is mentioned in the title:

10. The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Production budget: $100 million | Loss: $96 million
9. Stealth, Production budget: $135 million | Loss: $96 million
8. 47 Ronin, Production budget: $175 million | Loss: $98 million
7. The Lone Ranger, Production budget: $225 million | Loss: $98 million
6. Titan AE, Production budget: $90 million | Loss: $100 million
5. Mars Needs Moms, Production budget: $150 million | Loss: $100 million
4. Monster Trucks, Production budget: $125 million | Loss: $115 million
3. John Carter, Production budget: $263 million | Loss: $122 million
2. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Production budget: $60 million | Loss: $125 million
1. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Production budget: $175 million | Loss: $150 million

I don't know if that is an actual thing or not, but it makes sense that movie goers may decide they don't care about a specific hero, and so skip the whole movie. It makes it easy to say "No" to the movie. Maybe they could do split testing and try two different names, such as "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" vs "The Legendary Swordsman".

At least one of the worst movies did in fact have "The Adventures of..." in the name, and none of the highest grossing did, lol.

Sources:
The ten most expensive movie flops of all time
List of highest-grossing films - Wikipedia

Bonus point for anyone who saw the two worst movies are named "<Hero>: Legend of the...", but I wasn't going to stick my neck out again.

 

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[CosmicMind]

Does anyone else think Jeff Bezos is on a collision course?

I have respect for the dude for what he has accomplished.

But this whole getting divorced, leaving for another woman is something iv'e seen before elsewhere.

 

[Zcott]

My girlfriend comes from world of career orientated people. Her parents, their friends, and all the adults she knew growing up were the college > career is life > retirement type. This shaped her view of work.

I told her how I felt about work and how it is just economic slavery etc. etc.. Well, despite her background, she agreed with me. Fast forward six months, she's sat opposite starting up her own business. What's great is she is fiercely competitive and the type of person who won't take no for an answer. Beautiful things are going to happen here.

 

[Rabby]

Does anyone else brew and pickle and ferment? Once I realized how easy it is, I just got addicted. Some things I've made at the house...

Food:
Pickled vegetables
Sour hot sauces
Kimchi
Yogurt
Bread (that's right, you're fermenting the dough to make it rise folks)

Drink:
Mead - both fizzy and flat
Fruit wine (when the fruit trees go crazy reproducing)
Rice drink (still working on this one... some yeasts don't like it as much)
Probably some I've forgotten

I've cultivated wild yeasts from the environment, used bread yeast for brewing, put yeasts through a few generations to select for traits, and probably done the same with lactobacillus without even trying to. Unnatural selection is a baked in human behavior, after all. We keep the things we like.

The thing that amazes me is that people think things are so complicated. Then it turns out they're not, if you just act. Like, pickling is little more than putting veggies in salty water. That's it. They turn into pickles because only acid-forming microbes can tolerate the salt, for the most part. Brewing mead or wine is just about making sugary water and giving some yeast a head start. You don't even have to buy yeast, necessarily... it's everywhere.

I do have the utmost respect for people who go to all the effort to make consistent, delicious, beers wines and liquors. Ok sure, and bread and yogurt and stuff (ahem... and liquor). But really, all the complexity they go through is because they're taking something basic to higher and higher levels. People don't seem to realize this when they get into new things... they think they have to follow recipes and buy mysterious equipment. Following intuition is probably better for starting out.

This seems like an analog for business to me. Maybe not a perfect one. But similar, right? You can just do it and start learning what works; or you can sign up for a bunch of classes, buy expensive equipment (I use mason jars for fermenting, lol), follow recipes, etc. You can spend almost nothing and start immediately, or you can spend a small fortune and confuse the heck out of yourself.

I guess neither approach, acting first or learning all about it and buying stuff first, is 100% right. But if I only had $10, I could make pickles, beer, wine, mead, yogurt, bread, toppings, kimchi... and with a little effort distilled liquors. All from one concept... "fermenting." $10, and an afternoon. That's a good way to start something, I think.

 

[B. Cole]

Found out today that my bell pepper is pregnant. Didn’t happen at my house, she’s the only one in the drawer.

 

[Suzanne Bazemore]

This seems like an analog for business to me. Maybe not a perfect one. But similar, right? You can just do it and start learning what works; or you can sign up for a bunch of classes, buy expensive equipment (I use mason jars for fermenting, lol), follow recipes, etc. You can spend almost nothing and start immediately, or you can spend a small fortune and confuse the heck out of yourself.

I guess neither approach, acting first or learning all about it and buying stuff first, is 100% right. But if I only had $10, I could make pickles, beer, wine, mead, yogurt, bread, toppings, kimchi... and with a little effort distilled liquors. All from one concept... "fermenting." $10, and an afternoon. That's a good way to start something, I think.

What a great analogy, @Rabby, especially for me, since sometimes I overcomplicate things with all my thinking.

Found out today that my bell pepper is pregnant. Didn’t happen at my house, she’s the only one in the drawer.

OMG that is funny.

 

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[Rabby]

Found out today that my bell pepper is pregnant. Didn’t happen at my house, she’s the only one in the drawer.

Could this be... immaculate germination? >:O

 

[B. Cole]

Could this be... immaculate germination? >:O

It is possible -

I found it odd that shortly after, the virgin bell pepper gave birth to the baby jalapeño. The birth was presided over by a package of wise carrots, who laid the baby jalapeño on a bed of lettuce, as the refrigerator bulb shined brightly in the north.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Have to admit I'm tempted to own a little piece of nostalgia...

Film Royalties: Classic Comedy “Trading Places”

My guess is the studio will exercise their first right of refusal and buy it back.

 

[B. Cole]

Have to admit I'm tempted to own a little piece of nostalgia...

Film Royalties: Classic Comedy “Trading Places”

My guess is the studio will exercise their first right of refusal and buy it back.

I had no idea deals like this existed.

Not sure how valuations work for this kind of stuff. Is a valuation of 7.5 times annual estimated revenue a good deal for a film royalty?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Is a valuation of 7.5 times annual estimated revenue a good deal for a film royalty?

I'm not entirely sure, but an average $10K per year for a $75K investment is about a 13% return annually. That's a nice "hands off" return.

 

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[The Abundant Man]

I remember reading an Interview with Ron Howard saying that he still receives royalty checks from his old acting days on the show Happy Days. He said it was usually 35 cents. Sometimes a lot more.

 

[jon.M]

Computers suck at detecting sarcasm, just like children!

 

[Rabby]

My computer can't detect children at all!

 

[MTF]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG3eNG2rO7o


Can't believe this. @GlobalWealth, you'll enjoy this lol.

 

[Primeperiwinkle]

Does anyone else brew and pickle and ferment? Once I realized how easy it is, I just got addicted. Some things I've made at the house...

Food:
Pickled vegetables
Sour hot sauces
Kimchi
Yogurt
Bread (that's right, you're fermenting the dough to make it rise folks)

Drink:
Mead - both fizzy and flat
Fruit wine (when the fruit trees go crazy reproducing)
Rice drink (still working on this one... some yeasts don't like it as much)
Probably some I've forgotten

I've cultivated wild yeasts from the environment, used bread yeast for brewing, put yeasts through a few generations to select for traits, and probably done the same with lactobacillus without even trying to. Unnatural selection is a baked in human behavior, after all. We keep the things we like.

The thing that amazes me is that people think things are so complicated. Then it turns out they're not, if you just act. Like, pickling is little more than putting veggies in salty water. That's it. They turn into pickles because only acid-forming microbes can tolerate the salt, for the most part. Brewing mead or wine is just about making sugary water and giving some yeast a head start. You don't even have to buy yeast, necessarily... it's everywhere.

I do have the utmost respect for people who go to all the effort to make consistent, delicious, beers wines and liquors. Ok sure, and bread and yogurt and stuff (ahem... and liquor). But really, all the complexity they go through is because they're taking something basic to higher and higher levels. People don't seem to realize this when they get into new things... they think they have to follow recipes and buy mysterious equipment. Following intuition is probably better for starting out.

This seems like an analog for business to me. Maybe not a perfect one. But similar, right? You can just do it and start learning what works; or you can sign up for a bunch of classes, buy expensive equipment (I use mason jars for fermenting, lol), follow recipes, etc. You can spend almost nothing and start immediately, or you can spend a small fortune and confuse the heck out of yourself.

I guess neither approach, acting first or learning all about it and buying stuff first, is 100% right. But if I only had $10, I could make pickles, beer, wine, mead, yogurt, bread, toppings, kimchi... and with a little effort distilled liquors. All from one concept... "fermenting." $10, and an afternoon. That's a good way to start something, I think.

Ya. I love my fermenting stuff. I wish I had more time to geek out on it. Consistency is a problem. Also, I made an entire batch of fruit flies once.. that wasn’t fun. Lol. Live and learn.

 

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[Rabby]

@Primeperiwinkle Ooooh, I haven't tried to make fruit flies in a jar yet... sounds tasty Mostly we just make them in the compost bin.

 

[Kid]

Made me chuckle moment ago.

What are negatives of being your own boss

 

[Kid]

When people run out of ideas they add Blockchain

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Fiction writers beware... well, maybe all writers...



https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-backed-ai-company-claims-it-made-a-text-gener-1832650914

 

[biophase]

Fiction writers beware... well, maybe all writers...

View attachment 23697

https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-backed-ai-company-claims-it-made-a-text-gener-1832650914

Those generated excerpts sounded like the start of a great story!

 

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[CosmicMind]

When it comes it to saying AI is a threat to humanity it's really no different than saying nuclear weapons are a threat to humanity. It just depends on us and our judgment and humanity.

Yes, there are some indications that AI can basically cause havoc but we are not even close to being there.

The key would be how AI could interact/learn/ with it's environment. The robots and computers we have today don't allow that. We would need more physical technology to couple.

We made a lot of advances in the theory but not so much in the physical technology.

I think it's typical to expect this from Elon Musk because he is a very forward/predictive type of person.

 

[B. Cole]

I never really gave AI much thought until I saw some pictures it generated completely out of the blue. That was a bit of a holy cow moment for me, to know that given enough information, AI can easily fabricate photographs of anyone in any situation, in better form and detail than a good photoshop wiz.

 

[jon.M]

I'm divided about whether AI will be a real threat to writers. The shitty content cows in mainstream media, publishing and entertainment are probably doomed. Every movie is written after the same template as every other.

But then, writing is a way to transfer human thought. And if you're a reader looking to expand your mind and expose yourself to new, mind-altering ideas, the glorified AI article spinners will likely leave you with a lot more to ask for.

This software doesn't really have any thoughts of its own. It's wrangling words together in a very advanced and brilliant way.

At least until tech develops true, general intelligence, that will probably be the case. Because as far as I know, the AI world knows very little of how actual ideas are formed in the human brain and how true creativity works.

 

[pat9000]

This is true. I remember a few years ago, my dad was frustrated with a couple of twenty something engineers he had hired. He said: I don’t know what bothers me more, how useless your generation is, or the fact that we made you that way.

I wonder if Millennials will finally get us all killed or let America get destroyed by China or Russia because Millennials are so frail.