You get it wrong. Take notes and learn.
You are lost. Try a different map.
You are too fatigued. Rest deep and long.
You can’t be heard. Be bolder.
You lack focus. Find stillness and meditate until clarity returns.
You need greater resource. Ask nicely and persistently.
You need to go home. Go home.
Heather Cox Richardson highlights a pamphlet distributed by the US War Department to Army soldiers during World War II on the topic of fascism: what it is and how to combat it.
The War Department thought it was important for Americans to understand the tactics fascists would use to take power in the United States. They would try to gain power “under the guise of ‘super-patriotism’ and ‘super-Americanism.’” And they would use three techniques:
First, they would pit religious, racial, and economic groups against one another to break down national unity. Part of that effort to divide and conquer would be a “well-planned ‘hate campaign’ against minority races, religions, and other groups.”
Second, they would deny any need for international cooperation, because that would fly in the face of their insistence that their supporters were better than everyone else. “In place of international cooperation, the fascists seek to substitute a perverted sort of ultra-nationalism which tells their people that they are the only people in the world who count. With this goes hatred and suspicion toward the people of all other nations.”
Third, fascists would insist that “the world has but two choices — either fascism or communism, and they label as ‘communists’ everyone who refuses to support them.”
It is “vitally important” to learn to spot native fascists, the government said, “even though they adopt names and slogans with popular appeal, drape themselves with the American flag, and attempt to carry out their program in the name of the democracy they are trying to destroy.”
From 1943 to 2023. Little has changed.
Taegan Goddard, writing at Political Wire on Ron DeSantis’s much-ballyhooed campaign launch on Twitter Spaces yesterday:
In the end, the event had all of the appeal of a glitchy conference call.
Apparently, the event eventually did launch, but it was stuck with constant problems. When moderator David Sacks, a venture capitalist and former PayPal product lead, first unmuted himself to start the talk, the Space was filled with loud, echoing feedback sounds before quickly going silent. The accounts of DeSantis and Sacks popped in and out of the initial room, muting and unmuting themselves before leaving entirely.
Politics aside, what a shit show. And a complete disaster for DeSantis, Elon Musk and Twitter.
CJ Chilvers, writing at his site, dropped a bomb.
The truth is: we all have books that are already written…somewhere. They live in our blogs, social feeds, and notes. It’s the constraints and strategy, and the decision to ship, that eludes us.
I’m trying to get the book done. Really, I am.
Rands in Repose has a post all about the latest beta for Photoshop called “Generative Fill.”
His example is pretty wild.
It drew the goddamn bike. Click on the image and look at the larger size. It took a good swing at an appropriate color palette, and it drew the goddamn bike. Sure, it hallucinated the back of the bike into the tree, and there are other weird artifacts, but this is a beta. This is the first iteration. And this is 30 seconds of effort on my part.
Here is the official announcement. Generative AI is on its way to so many products right now.
I was a big fan of Fringe when it was on. I haven’t watched any episodes since they aired, but I know I can drop in on them anytime. This article explains what I loved about the show and why it still resonates today.
Jomboy breaks down a fun moment that happened between St. Louis Cardinals catcher Wilson Contreras, who messed with Boston Red Sox pitcher Kenley Jansen with his wits and that pesky new pitch clock rule.
This children’s book is one of the most biting commentary on school shootings I’ve ever seen.
Patricia Oliver lost her son, 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver, in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018. Since then, Oliver has committed herself to the cause of gun reform in America — and her latest effort involves this adorably horrific children’s book that depicts the events of the day in cartoonishly gruesome detail.
I love the idea of sending a hard copy of the book to your representatives to drive the point home, but I know where it will end up when most Republicans get it.
The end of the Star Wars: Galactic Cruiser hotel doesn’t surprise me in the least.
The Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser was marked by a few things — an almost unparalleled level of immersion that was something akin to what would happen if an interactive theater troupe overtook a cruise ship and made everybody on board join in the play; several cutting-edge advancements, including the introduction of a “real” lightsaber and a jaw-dropping Yoda hologram; an “excursion day” which saw guests do special activities in the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios; and an eye-watering price point — going on the “ship” costs around $1,200 per person, per day. (And keep in mind you had to do the entire three-day, two-night experience.)
I’d do a Star Wars hotel if it was just that, a hotel. I think all the interactive crap (that skyrocketed the price) they forced guests into doing for an “experience” didn’t help, and it’s the main reason why I never had the desire to go. There’s no way I could have convinced my wife to go along with any of this even if it appealed to me. And it never did.
Even if I had the money for it, I wouldn’t have spent it for a windowless hotel room that’s supposed to be in a spaceship that’s also a LARP.
I am looking forward to the inevitable Defunctland about it…
The synopsis for The Creator illuminates more of the plot we see in this trailer. Apparently, the movie is about the following:
Amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua (John David Washington), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Gemma Chan), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war… and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory… only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child.
I’m getting The Golden Child meets The Matrix with a dash of A.I. Artificial Intelligence vibes set in a science-fictional future. So, somewhat original. This movie looks cinematic while still retaining the necessary amount of heart. At least, that’s what I’m getting from the teaser.
I suspect AI will be the bad guy in science fiction movies coming out over the next few years. Skynet… here we come. HAL says hello.
However, I would like to point out that I am tired of the remixing of classic rock songs for the trailer trope. I’m over it.