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Dear Lazyweb, Seeking source for simple but believable OpenGL 3D fire and smoke simulation that does not use GLES / GLSL shaders, OpenGL 1.3 only.
emilienicolas_devoir_feedjwz_blog_feed
American police departments near the United States-Mexico border are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for an unproven and secretive technology that uses AI-generated online personas designed to interact with and collect intelligence on "college protesters," "radicalized" political activists, and suspected drug and human traffickers [...]
Massive Blue, the New York-based company that is selling police departments this technology, calls its product Overwatch, which it markets as an "AI-powered force multiplier for public safety" that "deploys lifelike virtual agents, which infiltrate and engage criminal networks across various channels." [...]
404 Media obtained a presentation showing some of these AI characters. These include a "radicalized AI" "protest persona," which poses as a 36-year-old divorced woman who is lonely, has no children, is interested in baking, activism, and "body positivity." Another AI persona in the presentation is described as a "'Honeypot' AI Persona." Her backstory says she's a 25-year-old from Dearborn, Michigan whose parents emigrated from Yemen, and who speaks the Sanaani dialect of Arabic. The presentation also says she uses various social media apps, that she's on Telegram and Signal, and that she has US and international SMS capabilities. Other personas are a 14 year-old boy "child trafficking AI persona," an "AI pimp persona," "college protestor" [sic], "external recruiter for protests," "escorts," and "juveniles.
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
jwz_blog_feed
Before him, the most recently-canonized saints lived and died in the 1800s. Acutis is different: He had a phone! He made websites about miracles! He wore sneakers! He's "God's influencer." Supplicants see him as somehow both approachably normal and extraordinarily devout. He was reportedly "uninterested in the trappings common for a wealthy child in Milan," asking his parents to donate the money they would have spent on more designer sneakers to the poor and skipping ski trips to teach catechism instead. [...]
Coincidentally, technology is bedeviling Acutis' early days as a saint. On eBay, people are selling what they claim to be his "relics," tiny pieces of a saint's body. One anonymous seller was selling "supposedly authenticated locks of Acutis' hair that were fetching upward of 2,000 euros ($2,200 US), according to the Diocese of Assisi, before being taken down," the AP reported. "It's not just despicable, but it's also a sin," one reverend who has a tiny fragment of Acutis' hair in a chapel by his office told the AP. "Every kind of commerce over faith is a sin."
There is a lot of non-relic commerce happening at the Shrine of the Renunciation, however. It's free to enter the church, but there is a gift shop around the corner at the exit.
How about them miracles? Wikipedia:
Luciana Vianna had taken her son, Mattheus, who was born with a pancreatic defect that made eating difficult, to a prayer service. Beforehand, she had prayed a novena asking for the teenager Acutis's intercession. During the service, Mattheus had asked that he should not "throw up as much". Immediately following the service, he told his mother that he felt healed and asked for solid food when he came home. After a detailed investigation, Pope Francis confirmed the miracle's authenticity, leading to Acutis's beatification. [...]
A Costa Rican woman named Valeria had fallen off her bike and suffered a brain haemorrhage with doctors giving her a low chance of survival. Valeria's mother, Lilliana, prayed for the intercession of Acutis and visited his tomb. The same day, Valeria began to breathe independently again and was able to walk the next day with all evidence of the haemorrhage having disappeared. [...] Pope Francis presided at an Ordinary Consistory of Cardinals, which approved the canonization of 15 people, including Blessed Carlo Acutis.
Well there you have it! That's just SCIENCE.
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
emilienicolas_devoir_feedjwz_blog_feed
As a part of this project, we also re-built the floor in the Lounge bathroom, which apparently had been sealed poorly, with resulting leaks on the Men's Room ceiling downstairs. We also replaced the Lounge sink, which had seen better days (and had been fucked off the wall at least twice. Please stop fucking on the sinks, thanks.)
It is a universal law that any time a contractor opens things up (whether they are a plumber, electrician, whatever), the first thing they say is, "Wow, whoever was in here before was an idiot." You hear it every time, you get used to it. But the spaghetti mess of drainage they found under the Womens' Room floor was really quite something. There was a lot of, "Why, why in the world would you do this??" Oh, also the clean-out ports for the drains were tiled over. No wonder we couldn't find them.
I've mentioned before that I suspect the plumber we had back in 2000 was actively trying to sabotage us. His crew were all his idiot sons and nephews, and multiple times I witnessed a failson spend all day laying pipe, then at the end of the day Daddy finally looks at it and says, "That's wrong, do it again". Oh, I'm so happy to be your learning experience. Anyway, how do you draw the line between incompetence and malice with someone like that? Fuck you, Benny. It's been 25 years and I'm still holding a grudge because I'm stil dealing with the aftermath.
Anyway! Beautiful, shiny new toilets! With seats!
For those of you who sponsored a toilet and purchased naming rights, the plaques should be going up this week. Keep an eye out!
When I posted this, I said that we had managed to cover the entire cost of the project with donations, but after looking at the latest invoices... "LOL no".
My original guess was that this project would be about $25,000 in contractor labor, and then another $20,000 for the toilets themselves. Well it turns out we got the toilets for much less -- $9,800 -- but because of all the stupid bullshit they found along the way, the labor took three weeks instead of five days. This project should have been "dig up and re-tile a two foot hole under each toilet, move some pipes" but because of the plumbing insanity, it ballooned into "dig up and re-tile almost the entire floor of the Women's Room, and re-do all of the drain routing". So labor and rough materials came to a bit over $60,000. We took in $43,000 in donations earmarked for the toilet project, so donations covered 60% of the total.
Which is still amazing, don't get me wrong. Thank you all so much!
But damn, nightclubs are just a hole in the sand that you shovel money into.
sententiae_antiquae_feedFive years ago Reading Greek Tragedy Online presented Euripides’ Bacchae
Reading Euripides’ Bacchae
Over the past few weeks we have presented readings of Euripides’ Helen and Sophocles’ Philoktetes, Euripides’ Herakles (in partnership with the Center for Hellenic Studies and the Kosmos Society and Out of Chaos Theatre). Our basic approach is to have actors in isolation read parts with each other online, interspersed with commentary and discussion from ‘experts’ and the actors. This week, we turn to the Bacchae (text to be used here).
Eur. Bacchae 196
“We alone are right-minded; everyone else is wrong.”
μόνοι γὰρ εὖ φρονοῦμεν, οἱ δ᾽ ἄλλοι κακῶς.
Scenes to be Read
Euripides, Bacchae 386–401
The fate for unbridled mouths
And lawless foolishness
Is misfortune.
The life of peace
And prudence
Is unshaken and cements together
Human homes. For even though
They live far off in the sky
The gods gaze at human affairs.
Wisdom is not wit;
Nor is thinking thoughts which belong not to mortals.
Life is brief. And because of this
Whoever seeks out great accomplishments
May not grasp the things at hand.
These are the ways of madmen
And wicked fools, I think.
ἀχαλίνων στομάτων
ἀνόμου τ’ ἀφροσύνας
τὸ τέλος δυστυχία·
ὁ δὲ τᾶς ἡσυχίας
βίοτος καὶ τὸ φρονεῖν
ἀσάλευτόν τε μένει καὶ
ξυνέχει δώματα· πόρσω
γὰρ ὅμως αἰθέρα ναίον-
τες ὁρῶσιν τὰ βροτῶν οὐρανίδαι.
τὸ σοφὸν δ’ οὐ σοφία,
τό τε μὴ θνατὰ φρονεῖν
βραχὺς αἰών· ἐπὶ τούτωι
δὲ τίς ἂν μεγάλα διώκων
τὰ παρόντ’ οὐχὶ φέροι; μαι
νομένων οἵδε τρόποι καὶ
κακοβούλων παρ’ ἔμοιγε φωτῶν.
Euripides Bacchae, Fourth Chorus (862-912)
“Will I ever lift my white foot
As I dance along
In the all night chorus—
Shaking my head at the dewy sky
Like the fawn who plays
In a meadow’s pale pleasures
When she has fled the frightful hunt
Beyond the well-woven nets of the guard—
With a holler, the hunter
Recalls the rush of his hounds
And she leaps
With the swift-raced lust of the winds
Across the riverbounded plain,
Taking pleasure in the places free
Of mortals and in the tender shoots
Of the shadow grove?
What’s cleverness for? Is there any nobler prize
Mortals can receive from the gods
Than to hold your hand over the heads
Of your enemies?
Whatever is noble is always dear.
Scarcely, but still surely,
The divine moves its strength
It brings mortals low
When they honor foolishness
And do not worship the gods
Because of some insane belief
They skillfully hide
The long step of time
As they hunt down the irreverent.
For it is never right
To think or practice stronger
Than the laws.
For it is a light price
To believe that these have strength—
Whatever the divine force truly is
And whatever has been customary for so long,
This will always be, by nature.
What’s cleverness for? Is there any nobler prize
Mortals can receive from the gods
Than to hold your hand over the heads
Of your enemies?
Whatever is noble is always dear.
Fortunate is the one who flees
The swell of the sea and returns to harbor.
Fortunate is the one who survives through troubles
One is greater than another in different things,
He surpasses in fortune and power—
But in numberless hearts still
Are numberless hopes: some result
In good fortune, but other mortal dreams
Just disappear.
Whoever has a happy life to-day,
I consider fortunate.
Χο. ἆρ’ ἐν παννυχίοις χοροῖς
θήσω ποτὲ λευκὸν
πόδ’ ἀναβακχεύουσα, δέραν
αἰθέρ’ ἐς δροσερὸν ῥίπτουσ’,
ὡς νεβρὸς χλοεραῖς ἐμπαί-
ζουσα λείμακος ἡδοναῖς,
ἁνίκ’ ἂν φοβερὰν φύγηι
θήραν ἔξω φυλακᾶς
εὐπλέκτων ὑπὲρ ἀρκύων,
θωύσσων δὲ κυναγέτας
συντείνηι δράμημα κυνῶν,
μόχθοις δ’ ὠκυδρόμοις ἀελ-
λὰς θρώισκηι πεδίον
παραποτάμιον, ἡδομένα
βροτῶν ἐρημίαις σκιαρο-
κόμοιό τ’ ἔρνεσιν ὕλας;
†τί τὸ σοφόν, ἢ τί τὸ κάλλιον†
παρὰ θεῶν γέρας ἐν βροτοῖς
ἢ χεῖρ’ ὑπὲρ κορυφᾶς
τῶν ἐχθρῶν κρείσσω κατέχειν;
ὅτι καλὸν φίλον αἰεί.
ὁρμᾶται μόλις, ἀλλ’ ὅμως
πιστόν <τι> τὸ θεῖον
σθένος· ἀπευθύνει δὲ βροτῶν
τούς τ’ ἀγνωμοσύναν τιμῶν-
τας καὶ μὴ τὰ θεῶν αὔξον-
τας σὺν μαινομέναι δόξαι.
κρυπτεύουσι δὲ ποικίλως
δαρὸν χρόνου πόδα καὶ
θηρῶσιν τὸν ἄσεπτον· οὐ
γὰρ κρεῖσσόν ποτε τῶν νόμων
γιγνώσκειν χρὴ καὶ μελετᾶν.
κούφα γὰρ δαπάνα νομί-
ζειν ἰσχὺν τόδ’ ἔχειν,
ὅτι ποτ’ ἄρα τὸ δαιμόνιον,
τό τ’ ἐν χρόνωι μακρῶι νόμιμον
ἀεὶ φύσει τε πεφυκός.
†τί τὸ σοφόν, ἢ τί τὸ κάλλιον†
παρὰ θεῶν γέρας ἐν βροτοῖς
ἢ χεῖρ’ ὑπὲρ κορυφᾶς
τῶν ἐχθρῶν κρείσσω κατέχειν;
ὅτι καλὸν φίλον αἰεί.
εὐδαίμων μὲν ὃς ἐκ θαλάσσας
ἔφυγε χεῖμα, λιμένα δ’ ἔκιχεν·
εὐδαίμων δ’ ὃς ὕπερθε μόχθων
ἐγένεθ’· ἕτερα δ’ ἕτερος ἕτερον
ὄλβωι καὶ δυνάμει παρῆλθεν.
μυρίαι δ’ ἔτι μυρίοις
εἰσὶν ἐλπίδες· αἱ μὲν
τελευτῶσιν ἐν ὄλβωι
βροτοῖς, αἱ δ’ ἀπέβασαν·
τὸ δὲ κατ’ ἦμαρ ὅτωι βίοτος
εὐδαίμων, μακαρίζω.
Euripides, Bacchae 1388-1392
Many are the forms of divine powers
Many are the acts the gods unexpectedly make.
The very things which seemed likely did not happen
but for the unlikely, some god found a way.
This turned out to be that kind of story.
πολλαὶ μορφαὶ τῶν δαιμονίων,
πολλὰ δ᾿ ἀέλπτως κραίνουσι θεοί·
καὶ τὰ δοκηθέντ᾿ οὐκ ἐτελέσθη,
τῶν δ᾿ ἀδοκήτων πόρον ηὗρε θεός.
τοιόνδ᾿ ἀπέβη τόδε πρᾶγμα.
jwz_blog_feedThe game was running but the screen was black. Then as I was moving the cabinet, I discovered that "percussive maintenance" made the screen come back on for a few seconds. So something is loose, but I can't tell what. When the monitor blacks out, the game continues playing; the LEDs are lit on the deflection board's low voltage supply; and spot killer is not active, so it's getting signal.
It's also probably not great, but probably unrelated, that to get 5v back on AR2 sense, I have to push like 5.8v. That's like 15% of the power radiating away somehow. Yes, I cleaned all the edge connectors.
Anyway, like I said last time, while I am happy to continue to sink money into these weird old artifacts so that future generations can experience them, I really need to find someone I can pay to fix them when they regularly break, because I'm not good enough at that. Help me find that person.
NOTE: Understand this request as if I were asking, "Do you have a local dentist that you like?"
If your answer is of the form, "No, but have you tried contacting the CEO of the American Dental Association? They probably know Hot Dentists In Your Area", or, "No, but most major metropolitan areas have dentists", you are not helping.
In fact, any answer that starts with "No but" or "Have you" is almost certainly not helping.
I shouldn't have to say this, but apparently I have to say this.
jwz_blog_feed
"It's normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcefully insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience. And I just want to assure you, you don't need to worry because there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop it."
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
jwz_blog_feed
I like the form factor of this kind of work light, of which there are 10,000 no-name Chinese-junk resellers -- folds up tiny, magnetic base, 360° rotation, USB rechargeable.
But is there something like this that has exactly two modes, "off" and "on", so that I don't have to click 3 or 4 times to turn it off? They all have the same firmware which makes you cycle through "uselessly dim", "disco blink", and "pinhole spotlight so dim you won't notice it, but it totally will drain the battery".
The "off" switch is a lost goddamned art.
"Yes, I would like my work light to be dimmer" -- statements dreamed up by the absolutely deranged.
jwz_blog_feed
jwz_blog_feedI got Tempest working again, but I can't get it out of "free play" or in fact get any of the dip switches to do anything. Like, I can't even set it to Spanish. However, the test screen that shows the current dip switch settings registers changes in realtime as I flip them. So the switch block is fine, the game is just ignoring all of them. What would cause this?
I had Pac-Man working for a day, but now it boots to a black screen with half an image of a Pac-Man sprite on it. So, the monitor is fine and this sounds like an underpowered board, maybe? But I have a modern switching power supply in there so that should be good. I tried upping the voltage a hair and that didn't help either.
I need to find someone I can pay to maintain these things for me.
I am moderately capable of doing it myself, but it takes me a long-ass time because I'm not that good at it, and also, I just don't enjoy it. Someone, please, take my money.
(Star Wars seems to be fine so far...)
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
sententiae_antiquae_feedAthenaeus, Deipnosophists 14.620c
“Chamaeleon claims in his book On Stesichorus that it wasn’t only Homer’s poetry that was accompanied by music but also Archilochus’ and Hesiod’s too. He adds the work of Mimnermus and Phocylides to this as well.”
Χαμαιλέων δὲ ἐν τῷ περὶ Στησιχόρου (fr. 28 Wehrli) καὶ μελῳδηθῆναί φησιν οὐ μόνον τὰ Ὁμήρου ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ Ἡσιόδου καὶ Ἀρχιλόχου, ἔτι δὲ Μιμνέρμου καὶ Φωκυλίδου.
Athenaeus, fr. 13.5.567f= Hermesian fr. 7.35-40
“Then Mimnermos, who discovered the sweet sound
And breath of gentle pentameter, after he suffered terribly,
Was burning for Nanno. With his lips often on the grey lotus
Pipe, he partied with Examyes.
But he was hateful to serious Hermobios and Pherekles.”
Μίμνερμος δέ, τὸν ἡδὺν ὃς εὕρετο πολλὸν ἀνατλὰς
ἦχον καὶ μαλακοῦ πνεῦμ᾿ ἀπὸ πενταμέτρου,
καίετο μὲν Ναννοῦς, πολιῷ δ᾿ ἐπὶ πολλάκι λωτῷ
κνημωθεὶς κώμους εἶχε σὺν Ἐξαμύῃ·
†ἠδ᾿ ἠχθεε† δ᾿ Ἑρμόβιον τὸν ἀεὶ βαρὺν ἠδὲ Φερεκλῆν
Suda, Mu 1077 (iii.397.20 Adler)
“Mimnermos, the son of Ligurtuades, from Kolophon or Smurnos or Astupalaios. An elegiac poet. He lived during the 37th Olympiad [ c. 632-629 BCE) and so lived before the Seven Sages. Some people say that he lived at the same time they did. He used to be called Liguastades because of his harmony and clarity. He wrote…those many books.”
Μίμνερμος Λιγυρτυάδου, Κολοφώνιος ἢ Σμυρναῖος ἢ Ἀστυπαλαιεύς, ἐλεγειοποιός. γέγονε δ᾿ ἐπὶ τῆς λζ΄ ὀλυμπιάδος, ὡς προτερεύειν τῶν ζ΄ σοφῶν· τινὲς δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ συγχρονεῖν λέγουσιν. ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ καὶ Λιγυᾳστάδης διὰ τὸ ἐμμελὲς καὶ λιγύ. ἔγραψε βιβλία †ταῦτα πολλά.
Mimnermus, fr. 5 = Stobaeus 4.50.69
[missing line of dactylic hexameter]
“….but dear youth is like a short dream
Then suddenly hard and ugly old age
Drapes down over your head.
It makes a man hateful and unloved, even unknown
As it weakens his eyes and clouds his mind.”
ἀλλ᾿ ὀλιγοχρόνιον γίνεται ὥσπερ ὄναρ
ἥβη τιμήεσσα· τὸ δ᾿ ἀργαλέον καί ἄμορφον
γῆρας ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς αὐτίχ᾿ ὑπερκρέμεται,
ἐχθρὸν ὁμῶς καὶ ἄτιμον, ὅ τ᾿ ἄγνωστον τιθεῖ ἄνδρα,
βλάπτει δ᾿ ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ νόον ἀμφιχυθέν.
Nick Drake, “Black Eyed Dog”
Black eyed dog he called at my door
The black eyed dog he called for more
A black eyed dog he knew my name
A black eyed dog he knew my name
A black eyed dog
A black eyed dog
I’m growing old and I wanna go home, I’m growing old and I dont wanna know
I’m growing old and I wanna go home
Black eyed dog he called at my door
The black eyed dog he called for more
emilienicolas_devoir_feedjwz_blog_feedWelp. About a month ago, the whole thing system shit the bed and apparently nobody knows how to fix it. So the building management has been hiring 24 hour security to have some dude stand next to the open garage door and ask people "do you have a fob?" (The secret password to get in is "yes", he doesn't check.)
Today they mailed out an update saying that they had "met with representatives from ButterflyMX, who are preparing a proposal to replace the legacy system with a more modern solution".
More modern than the legacy system that was installed in [checks notes] 2021 by [checks notes] ButterflyMX.
Apparently they aren't expecting this to be resolved any time soon, because they're also about to distribute new actual keys to the building front door to everyone. It's a big building, that's a lot of keys. Those keys will cost us almost as much as... half a week's salary for the rent-a-cops.
I wrote, "I would like some assurance that I will still be able to get into my building using a key-fob without signing up with ButterflyMX or installing their app on any of my devices."
"I will pass your comments on to the board."
The only thing worse than the Mastodon HOA is an actual HOA.
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
jwz_blog_feed
It's tempting to get knives out to hack at the hanks of the great beast. It's tempting to sharpen your tongue to shriek at it, how close we are now to Idiocracy's prophecy of Ass: The Movie being the most watched and awarded film in the land. I keep coming back to the image of Kevin McCarthy at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, peering through the fourth wall to tell you it's too late. They're here already. The great beast will not feel you, and it does not have ears to hear you. It can't feel shame. As it was never alive, you can't kill it, and if you can't kill it, neither can you bury it. You can fight, but you'll lose. Not to the great beast, but to your friends and neighbours, who will urge you to forget it, take it easy. They will rationalize that some garbage piece of media was made for children, as if the things we make for children should be terrible. Feed them the rotten stuff, the maggot-infested stuff -- they won't know. Give them the chair with the splinters; the toy that takes eyes; the water full of lead. Why worry? It's just for kids. It's just for kids you don't think will grow up or don't care if they do. It's cheaper not to let them live. When they consume, that's less for you to consume. Maybe we should change our laws so they can work longer when they're younger, because they don't seem to last as long as they used to. Lie back and enjoy it. Pray you never get that direction outside of invitations to kid's movies. Your friends and neighbours are pods now. I know they look like people, but they're not. Your loved ones are dead. I'm sorry.
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
jwz_blog_feed - Fireemilienicolas_devoir_feed - La dette du mondejwz_blog_feed - Hello fellow kids! Doing crimes is TIGHT!jwz_blog_feed - Saint Acutis of Halojwz_blog_feed - The numbers are mysterious and important.emilienicolas_devoir_feed - Résister, ça s’apprend (2)jwz_blog_feed - "Thank you, Simone."jwz_blog_feed - DNA Lounge: Wherein the new toilets are installed, the new toilets are installed!sententiae_antiquae_feed - Madness and Ecstasy: Reading the Bacchaejwz_blog_feed - SHIELD GONEjwz_blog_feed - Silicon Valley crosswalk buttons hacked to imitate Musk, Zuckerbergjwz_blog_feed - Tiny work lightsjwz_blog_feed - Great Moments in Sortingjwz_blog_feed - Tempest, Pac-Manjwz_blog_feed - "Megatron is attacking a steel worker union strike"sententiae_antiquae_feed - The Short Dream and the Sudden Darknessemilienicolas_devoir_feed - Déclaration d’indépendancejwz_blog_feed - ButterflyMX Is Going Greatjwz_blog_feed - I Heard They Burning Teslas Downtownjwz_blog_feed - Zero Stars![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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