Oh shit! That’s a thing? Is it just cardamom steeped in hot water or is it more of a spice/tea blend like black tea and cardamom?

This made me laugh an unreasonable amount. I needed this after everything. Thank you.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

—Martin Niemöller

As much as it was sad to see a lot of restaurants die during COVID, there were an awful lot of sushi abomination restaurants out there that I think we’re all better off without. I actually had to stop eating sushi for a few years because we would try to order sushi and it would just be disgusting. You’d get either 1 of 2 scenarios - it was some very gimmicky sushi that you’d never eat more than once, or it was gross because the quality just wasn’t up to par during lockdown. And sushi is unfortunately one of those foods that’s very unforgiving and if you have even 1 bad experience, you won’t be going back to that establishment. So I can see why a lot of them closed.

My husband has had a metal USB stick that is shaped like a key and is very thin specifically for this purpose. I don’t know the brand as it’s not printed on it, but it’s lasted him a long time and I would assume it to win this contest by a landslide. Excellent analysis, very interesting!

For reference, it looks like this (not the same brand):

Don’t forget that eggs also come out the hole!! If you’ve ever seen fresh farm eggs before, you have to wash them before you use them because they’re covered in piss and shit. Yum!

There’s an excellent episode of the Sopranos where they end up going to Italy. And even though their whole personality is “Italian” they find that they have nothing in common with actual Italians. That show is a masterpiece.

I don’t know if these things are sent en masse by a bot or by a person, but it’s like they don’t even skim your profile before hitting send. Like I specifically said “Work from home only”, what makes you think I want your “hybrid” opportunity in bumfuck Illinois that barely pays what it should for my experience?

It says posted 18 years ago, but I’m pretty sure this predates YouTube even. Now I feel old… gross.

This donut is SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAMIN!!!

My choices are AT&T and Comcast. Both are shitty and treat you equally shitty, but Comcast actually works most of the time ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I used to fly united quite a bit and it used to be pretty good. But these days my options for flying for work are united, delta, and southwest and I usually choose delta because they don’t charge you for shit and you can have both an overhead carry on and a small bag plus free internet on the plane. In the end they’re all shit, but I’m going to pick the lesser of the shits each time. Same reason I have Comcast internet.

Ah, the ol’ Hank Hill of flooring.

I haven’t heard any other comments chime in from one of my use cases, so I’ll give it a stab. My first use case, I mentioned in another comment which is just adding a specific tone onto emails which I’m bad at doing myself. But my second use case is more controversial and I still don’t know how to feel about it. I’m a graphic designer and with most enhancements in design/art technology, if you don’t learn what’s new, you will fall behind and your usefulness will wane. I’ve always been very tech savvy and positive about most new tech so I like to stay up to speed both for my job and self interest. So how do I use AI for graphic design? The things I think have the best use case and are least controversial are the AI tools that help you edit photos. In the past, I have spent loads of time editing frizzy curly hair so I can cut out a person. As of a couple years ago, Adobe I touched some tools to make that process easier, and it worked ok but it wasn’t a massive time saver. Then they launched the AI assisted version and holy shit it works perfectly every time. Like give me the frizziest hair on a similar color background with texture and it will give you the perfect cutout in a minute tops. That’s the kind of shit I want for AI. More tools eliminate tedious processes!! However there is another more controversial use case which is generative AI. I’ve played with it a lot and the tools work fantastic and get you started with images you can splice together to make what you really envisioned or you can use it to do simple things like seamlessly remove objects or add in a background that didn’t exist. I once made a design with an illustrative style by inputting loads of images that fit the part, then vectorizing all the generated options and using pieces from those options to make what I really wanted. I was really proud of it especially since I’m not an illustrator and don’t have the skills to illustrate what I envisioned by hand. But that’s where things get controversial. I had to input the work of other people to achieve this. At the moment, I can’t use anything generative commercially even though Adobe is very nonchalant about it. My company has taken a firm stance on it which is nice, but it means I can really only use that aspect for fun even though it would be very useful in some situations.

TLDR: I use AI to give my writing style the right tone, to save loads of time editing photos, and to create images I don’t have the skills to create by hand (only for funzies).

This is my one of 2 use cases for AI. I only recently found out after a life of being told I’m terrible at writing, that I’m actually really good at technical writing. Things like guides, manuals, etc that are quite literal and don’t have any soul or personality. This means I’m awful at writing things directed at people like emails and such. So AI gives me a platform where I can enter in exactly what I want to say and tell it to rewrite it in a specific tone or level of professionalism and it works pretty great. I usually have to edit what it gave me so it flows better or remove inaccurate language, but my emails sound so much better now! It’s also helped me put more personality into my resume and portfolio. So who knows, maybe it’ll help me get a better job?

I have to give my email in order to get a mail-in ballot. And of course, they put that email on all the political lists so they can bombard you. I typically just keep blocking them and they have reduced over time. Still frustrated tho…

Why use lot word when few word do trick?

It’s time to break out a can of whoop-ass!!

We still have one in Illinois but I’m not sure how it’s still holding on. Used to love going in there. Loads of specialized parts and equipment as well as staff that were super knowledgeable and helpful. But at least we have Microcenter now… Which is like if you took a Fry’s and scaled it down and made it work more like a car dealership 😭😭😭

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the fake old movie that plays in Home Alone. “I’m gonna give you till the count of 10 to get your ugly yeller no good keester off my property before I pump your guts full of lead! One… Two… Ten!” 🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫