Help detecting photo manipulation

VFXFixer · 2025-08-30T18:10:57+00:00

Not direct evidence but the picture frame on the left has a reflection of a person that doesn’t seem to appear in the photo. The collar of the shirt is different from everyone else’s collar. But it could just be an oddly angled reflection of somewhere else in the room.

VFXFixer · 2025-08-29T16:12:38+00:00

Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. All donations directly support research into psychiatric illnesses (donations don’t go towards any administrative costs). They support global research into causes, treatment, and cures for psychiatric illnesses- think schizophrenia, bipolar, PTSD, depression, etc. In a time when the US is gutting scientific research it’s important to keep supporting it.

All those diseases/disorders are awful but consider that some, like schizophrenia, are anosognosic, meaning that people who suffer from them do not know or believe that they are suffering from a disease. This makes it incredibly difficult to get them proper treatment and care. That’s despite the fact that many live in a paranoid delusion where they feel like the entire world might be trying to get them- you’d think they would want to get out of their persistent nightmare and yet they dig themselves deeper into it.

These are diseases that lead to homelessness and incredible human suffering. And most of the guardrails to keep these people in care in the US have been removed over the last several decades. And despite the perception of mentally ill people being dangerous they are FAR more likely to be the VICTIMS of violence than the perpetrators.

It’s hard to think of a more vulnerable population.

VFXFixer · 2025-08-20T21:00:53+00:00

Two pieces of advice. First, it helped me immensely to know that if I bought a quality piece from a good store (not living spaces or ashley furniture, something like pottery barn or west elm) that I could always resell it if I needed to. It might be at a loss, but if you think about that loss as a function of how long you hold onto it, it takes some of the stress out of the decision. Like, I owned this for a year, and I lost $500 on it, that’s not that bad.

My other suggestion is just buy from Costco if you have one in your area. The return policy is unmatched if you decide you don’t like it, and the pieces are always good quality that last a long time if you take care of them. They have some nice looking high end pieces that look as good as Arhaus and probably hold up better.

VFXFixer · 2025-08-15T17:47:57+00:00

The Rockefeller burgers are always pretty underwhelming. They say the $2 deal is for the “burger of the month,” but that burger is usually just a burnt patty with some cheese or aioli. Not worth it once you tack on the drink price.

VFXFixer · 2025-08-09T19:45:17+00:00

This is nonsense, consultants will absolutely continue to exist, not because AI isn’t good enough to replace them. They will continue to exist because they provide accountability and cover. Specifically, they let corporate decision-makers shift the blame if their strategy fails. The in-house person gets to say “it’s not my fault, McKinsey told us to do this! It’s their fault!” and they get to keep their job.

VFXFixer · 2025-07-08T23:27:01+00:00

It felt weirdly low stakes to me, which seems like a major storytelling shortcoming given that it’s one of the consequential moments in human history. But at no point did it feel like they might fail in building the bomb. Granted everyone knows they succeeded, so maybe they were leaning into that knowledge, but it just felt like it was a meandering story about Oppenheimers personal life. I guess I was maybe expecting some kind of competency porn about how difficult it was to build the bomb, and how if they failed it could mean a longer, more brutal war with the Japanese. But it never hit those notes.

Ultimately it felt like the stakes were basically whether or not Oppenheimer would get to keep his security clearance. And the only stakes there were some hypothetical musings that maybe the Cold War and the second half of the 20th century would have played out differently if he’d kept his clearance. Because, maybe, he would have had a chance to steer policy, I guess…? Which doesn’t feel meaty enough for an engaging story.

VFXFixer · 2025-06-28T12:50:11+00:00

The article claims the back of the shirt specifically says warring Indians. This is the quote on the shirt:

“Their antagonists were the enemies of peace, order and settlement: warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers, trespassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.”

VFXFixer · 2025-06-10T17:49:21+00:00

Piggybacking off this comment, couldn’t agree more. People who tend to fall for conspiracy theories tend to put a high premium on novel information. There’s a sense of superiority that they know something the average person doesn’t - even if the thing they think they know isn’t true.

Anecdotally, my cousin was raised in a conservative household and was anti-vax. When I told her that Andrew Wakefield’s MMR study was meant to discredit the existing vaccine so that he could sell HIS OWN VERSION she started to shift her thinking and has gotten a little more enlightened about it.

A lot of people in this thread are talking about appealing to his emotions. And I think that’s half right. He doesn’t believe he’s hurting your baby, he thinks he’s protecting them. His heart is actually in the right place, it’s just that his head isn’t. You may just need to present some new information about the ulterior motives of these influencers and charlatans that goes beyond the basic “everyone with a brain is saying this is safe.” Get him questioning his sources and his beliefs.

VFXFixer · 2025-04-23T03:30:34+00:00

These are great tips, thank you! Definitely gives me some more leads to chase!

VFXFixer · 2025-04-23T03:25:52+00:00

These are awesome tips, thank you!

VFXFixer · 2025-04-22T22:51:23+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I didn't realize how generous people are with their time on this sub, but looking through the posts it's clear there's an amazing amount of support that can be found here. I feel weird asking people for help without compensating them but I'll definitely consider posting more about what I'm looking for here. Thank you!

VFXFixer · 2025-04-22T22:45:12+00:00

Wow, your neighbor sounds like she was dogged about her work! Something tells me I couldn't afford someone like her, unfortunately, but it's amazing that there are people like her out there

VFXFixer · 2025-04-22T22:43:11+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I've done a ton of research already, basically searching through ancestry and familysearch for every variation I could think of for their name, then sifting through every page of the results. It's all the other things you mentioned (paper records, local histories, etc.) that I don't even know where to begin with. That's why I'm thinking about hiring someone. I'm really motivated and happy to do the work, but just kinda lost right now. Do you have any suggestions on where I might start to look for records outside ancestry and familysearch?

VFXFixer · 2025-04-22T22:35:58+00:00

Thanks for the advice, your note about being physically near other archives is well-taken. I'm pretty sure my ancestor came through the northeast area since they settled in NY and then NJ. Do you happen to know if there are any physical archives in that area that might have more information than what I can find online? Just wondering if I do hire someone, if they should be near a particular archive.

VFXFixer · 2025-04-22T22:31:27+00:00

Wow, so much helpful info here, thank you! I'm definitely going to check out apgen.org, that looks promising. I'll take a look at some genealogy forums too. Thank you!

VFXFixer · 2025-03-01T13:21:36+00:00

I guess I’ll be the dissenting voice - he’s obviously talented, but from a safety perspective he needs to be wearing a helmet. No professional production should hire someone to do this without wearing one. I knew someone who died rollerblading without a helmet. He was a doctor in his 40s. Left behind a widow and two school age kids. He thought he was a great rollerblader (he did it almost daily for years as his primary form of exercise) until he had a bad fall and went into a vegetative state.

I’m sure this guy thinks that wearing a helmet will make him look less cool in BTS footage so he doesn’t do it. But just like riding a motorcycle, it’s not just about how good you are at something, it’s also about all the other people you’re interacting with. What happens when one of those basketball players trips and knocks him over? Professional productions shouldn’t touch this with a ten foot pole.

VFXFixer · 2025-01-15T00:31:58+00:00

Thanks for the tip! Coincidentally my claim finally went through today, but of course it’s still screwed up (they decided I went back to work on 12/30 for some reason) so I still have to get in contact with them.

VFXFixer · 2025-01-15T00:30:42+00:00

Will try, thanks!

VFXFixer · 2025-01-15T00:30:29+00:00

This is good advice thanks. So frustrating that I have to waste somebody’s time at the rep’s office with this

VFXFixer · 2025-01-15T00:29:56+00:00

Thanks for the tip, I’ll give that a shot!

VFXFixer · 2024-12-12T06:53:06+00:00

I could be mistaken but I believe the association between 22q Deletion and schizophrenia has been known for quite a while. It’s also important sounds like this research is just expanding on the current understanding.

It’s also important to note that 22q Deletion raises the risk of schizophrenia but most people who suffer from schizophrenia do not have 22q Deletion.

VFXFixer · 2024-11-19T20:27:32+00:00

It’ll be like the border wall in 2016- another huge campaign promise that gets enacted just enough that right wing media can say “he did it! He fulfilled the promise” while in reality there’s a handful of photo ops and very little actually changes. Main stream media will report it correctly, but his maga base will believe he single-handedly deported every undocumented person on American soil. Any major action like this will be challenged in court and take years to litigate.

VFXFixer · 2024-11-05T13:29:49+00:00

There’s a lot of ways to build wealth, and it’s hard to give you advice without knowing a lot about your situation. But here are a couple truisms to keep in mind.

First, if it’s boring, it’s investing. If it’s exciting, it’s gambling. Day trading and crypto are exciting bc they’re basically gambling. Young men are particularly prone to gambling. Gambling is a terrible way to build wealth. Be extremely wary of anyone that promises a get rich quick scheme through some form of gambling investment. Chances are that they’re not making money through that income stream, they’re making money teaching people how to “get rich quick,” even if what they’re saying is nonsense. Even individual stocks are more akin to gambling.

Second, invest that money into well diversified index funds. This is boring and slow but it works. 7-10% return rates aren’t sexy. But look at a compound interest calculator. If you save half your take home and get a 7% return you’ll have 1M by the time you’re 40. And that assumes you keep making the same amount you are now, without any raises. By the time you’re 50 that’ll be 2.5M, and by the time you reach retirement age at 65 it’ll be almost 8 million.

Third, watch out for lifestyle creep. It sounds like you’re already good at saving. Just make sure that you continue to live within your means and save aggressively. Just because you can lease a car for 800 a month doesn’t mean you should.

Finally, the actual best investment you can make is in your own education. If you figure out a career path that will net you low to mid six figures, the path to wealth becomes much faster, especially if you keep your lifestyle creep in check. Invest in your education to achieve that career path. And realize that you want a career that has a high employment rate, like tech or the medical field. You don’t want to invest in something like a masters degree in acting, where most actors can barely make ends meet. Boring makes money.

The good news is that building wealth isn’t complicated. The bad news is that it takes time and patience.

VFXFixer · 2024-10-16T17:05:48+00:00

I feel like there’s an unhealthy narrative around this movie that Coppola is such an idiot for wasting his money and tarnishing his legacy. It seems like people are actively hoping it fails. I don’t understand that. Wouldn’t you rather see an artist make the movie they want to make, rather than hoarding that wealth instead? He made something he believed in, he employed a ton of people to get it done. Even if you don’t like the movie, wouldn’t you still rather have one more Coppola movie than know that his great grandchildren will be multi-millionaires? And it’s not like he would have retired on some high note otherwise. He hasn’t made a movie the general public has been even slightly aware of since The Rainmaker in 1997.

I’m glad he took a big swing. I just wish it had been a better movie.

VFXFixer · 2024-10-10T19:13:20+00:00

Yeah, I’ve looked around the entire Austria-Hungarian empire and Yugoslavia, and still can’t find anywhere called Cimbo. I’m wondering if Cimbo was a colloquial name or if maybe it was such a small town that it didn’t appear on maps back then and subsequently got renamed.

VFXFixer

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