Libb

This strikes me as abhorrent. But most of the people here call it necessary, preferable and even desirable.

I don’t and I won’t ‘call it necessary, preferable and even desirable’. That’s a nightmare that’s being build right before our eyes, with the (often unconscious) complicity of a lot of us (me included, for many years).

Here in France, certain ideas are literally outlawed from any public discussions (it’s in the law, what an impressive feat from a country so proud of its promotion of free speech). But it’s everywhere and at every level, even in the way we’ve learned to not use certain words in our everyday exchanges or to not try to understand something a little better before condemning it—we do like all the people around us, we hate what and who we’re being told to hate.

That’s why I steer away as much as I can from digital means of communication. And do as much as I can offline and the analog way.

Younger people have probably never experienced it but good old snail mail (as well as in-person talks) is still private by default (that too is in the law, at least here, doesn’t l mean it’s above the law, which is fine, but at least it’s private). Also, it’s not tracked or algorithmically quantified and validated by anyone.

Mandatory disclaimer (because we live in this absolute moronic age of ‘either you’re with us, or you’re against us’ angry crowds): me protesting against the growing (self-)censorship of any idea does not mean I endorse any of those censored ideas. It just means that I think censorship is a terrible way to fight any idea. As history have shown us countless times.

Don’t want to deal with admin/security stuff ;)

You need better air flow.

I had the same issue as a student, when I lived in that pocket-sized 1 room ‘apartment’ with barely any airflow coming through a single and tiny window. The only solution I found to be working was, each morning, to lift the mattress and store it on its side with the bottom/downside face part of it not facing the wall, and let it like that for the rest of the day. The air would do its magic.

I also raised the bed frame that was very close to the ground.

I love this movie so much. First watched it as kid it made a deep impression on me. Still does, some 50 years after I first watched it.

Luke, is that you?

Fasting. Hard to make money off not eating food.

FFS, don’t give them ideas!

Now with exclusively made for you daily AI motivational messages! 2 months free if you subscribe annually. Fast better, fast with your wallet!

;)

• Daily walks. I started barely being able to walk more than a few steps, I was in a really terrible shape. Nowadays, I will walk at least 8km daily. More as often as I can. It feels too good. Exercising regularly and in the long-run is key.
• Eating healthier food, aka fresh fruits, veggies, real fresh bread and NOT eating industrial pre-processed food anymore. Like none at all. No ‘just this one time’ or ‘just one byte’. No more feeding myself with ready-made dishes, no more fast-food (I still ate delicious burgers and fries mind you… just all hand-made with fresh food), no industrial sweets or whatever either. And no industrial beverage either, aka no soda not even light.
• Not being an asshole with myself. I failed many times at keeping my motivation. No blaming and no hating (I was already punished enough by all that wasted time it meant for me to fall back into my bad habits) but I kept on going while trying to understand how/why I failed (so I would not do the same mistake again).

I halved my weight and I still eat plenty (even chocolate, pastries or things like that, just… a lot less and never industrially made), I replaced me eating shit (literally, industrial are feeding us shit) by me eating actual food (and enjoying preparing it), and I also retook control my body, muscles and joints, by starting to move it… like it is was designed to. We’re not designed to sit on a couch or in front of computer all day long (be it to work or to play).

What are the ethics of using AI to imitate art styles?

I don’t understand the question.

AI has no ethics, AI doesn’t copy or steal, no more than a photocopy is stealing the pages of the books it copies. AI is not a person.

The persons writing the code of the AI to make it able to ‘learn’ (aka remix) from existing art and artists are the one stealing art and artists. As well as the user asking that AI to ‘create’ new art hoping to make some money out of it while knowing 100% that it’s pure copying from other artists.

Sure. But don’t worry, our bright leaders have obviously considered that tiny little potential but veeeeeeery unlikely issue the day they decided to rely on US-tech. They must have a backup plan. They did have a backup, right?

Beside Windows and Office, thinking about all the European data that US clouds have been tasked to ‘safekeep’ for us by our so very lucid leaders, the same leaders that have persistently refused to listen to the few people around here telling them that maybe that was not the fucking smartest idea ever to let go of that control on our essential data… I do wonder how many vital, key or even just nice to have European services will instantly stop working if the US was to ever pull the plug?

I also wonder if my bank would still be able to work? And what about my medical data?

Not that our US friends would ever do such a thing to their dearest European allies, obviously they love us (read the last few paragraphs).

USA + EU = BFF & <3

+1

We use that too. It’s less impactful than using a clim and it’s still enough for us.

Beethoven and Bach. Depends.

I have a few pictures of flowers. So, in a metaphorical way I reckon those could be considered NSFW? Beside that, I’m afraid I have nothing to show. Or should I say to hide? ;)

I have a few more NSFW books on my bookshelves at home, mind you. Not porn even though I do have a few Sade and other authors like that. They’re mostly books that would today be (or had once been) considered unsafe reads. The kind of books more and more people (those same people that don’t read much outside their comfort zone) believe can do harm and want them to be removed from certain public libraries, or want them to be more or less completely edited to fit their own narrative.

Quite early in the year to pick one favorite, but so far I would say:

• A la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust. I’m reading it right now, and probably will take the rest of the year to finish it. I’ve failed for 30+ years reading it, like I just could not get into it and gave up countless times. Earlier this year, it somehow clicked and I’m in awe. It’s amazing.
• An essay and still in French (like Proust, there are many translations available): Du contrat social by Rousseau. Today more than ever, a fundamental text that is worth (re-)reading. What does it mean to live and to work together, in a society? Where does it come from? And how do we make it work and not end in a civil war? The text itself is a rather short read, but the moment one realizes each sentence has a lot of offer and to reflect upon it becomes a lot more massive. Real slow reading is highly encouraged for that text.
• In English (American): The World-Ending Fire, a collection of essays by Wendell Berry. I wish I had started reading him 40 years ago.

• Reading. Like I do with online content, I select very strictly the books I read, doing my best to keep hate/anger (as well as proud idiocy) at bay.
• Writing (& journaling)
• Long walks (edit: nicer weather makes it even more tempting ;)
• Quality time with my spouse
• A little music too.

Nothing fancy, but very efficient as far as I’m concerned.