Topix Underground

So my wife got a bunch of bills in the mail from renegade  states who apparently have odd ways of collecting taxes.  An automated speeding ticket from Pennsylvania 11 over -  Ohio & NY State toll roads...  We don't have any of that kind of thing here.  It's dystopian.

😂 😂 😂

https://sora.chatgpt.com/p/s_68fef4cd771881918d5a09d85f504881

I just watched this Bulgarian AI video. Two giys talking to each other.
Guy 1: what is the worst name for a mother in law?
Guy 2: Hope
Guy 1: Why is that?
Guy 2: Because Hope always dies last.

This is basically porn for geeks.

Shit it's cold here. I was outside but I don't have a coat and I'm not dressed. 30's a bit much. I have a couple telescopes out there and was going to look at Jupiter but I aborted the mission. I'm never wearing a coat again. That's one of the things I'm never doing again...that's the list I'm working on and it's getting long.

I'm in the process of upgrading all of my existing telescopes with simple, reliable, 2-axis (alt-az) mounts; no electronics, no gps, no wifi.  I made custom walnut handles with quick-release dove-tail fittings that can be attached to the telescopes so they can be manually slewed from side-to-side and up-and-down.  It's artful. I love shit that is well-built and is not over-engineered. My urethane and lacquer were skunked but I found a can of matte finishing wax and used that on the walnut - that is a beautiful look.

My big telescope was one of the first "go-to" telescopes marketed for amateurs. Predictably, the electronics failed. I didn't care. The thing is still a great telescope without the electronics and I only bothered with that a couple of times anyhow. It's more of a hassle than it's worth. I'm not part of the "app" generation.

Also, I ask the "AI" questions and it gives me really long and detailed responses that are incorrect. I can actually tell that it's referencing articles from the internet written by unreliable sources  because I have read them.  I'm not that impressed with AI for the same reason that I'm glad as fck I grew up before calculators, computers, cable tv, video games, cell phones, OSHA  - I actually know how to do shit the long way with or without a "device" and I didn't record every minute of my life for facebook because I don't want to remember huge decades-long chunks of it.

"...Jon Stewart Says Trump Is ‘Definitely’ Planning to Serve Third Term: You Don’t ‘Build a 90,000 Square Foot Ballroom for the Next Guy’..."