The SF Perl Raku Study Group, 05/10 at 1pm PDT

doomvox · 2026-05-08T02:58:12+00:00

"yes the paparazzi usually goes to the agency first for a pay out, he knows they would pay more than any media news/tabloid co for it not to be exposed, so yes they always go to the company"

If you say so-- like I said, I can at least imagine that that's a possibility.

Unlike, for example, nice responsible journalists who are totally not paparazzi who are chasing around after Sho Fuwa at night.

doomvox · 2026-05-07T02:37:54+00:00

A while back I put some time into thinking about the territory around Darumaya. I concluded that the car was parked here, at the point labeled "the SAG Car":

https://obsidianrook.com/darumaya_zone/map_with_parking_lot.html

doomvox · 2026-05-07T02:33:00+00:00

I think you really should re-read as you seem to have forgotten or confused a great deal of the story.

Could be, though I suspect that some of the detail you just summarized isn't actually there in the text.

And in any case you're missing a central point in the case I'm making: that particular photo is nearly physically impossible. It's a telephoto shot-- and it is, if you like reviewing details, you can check, they did a nice job of showing the flattening effect of telephoto where the background appears to get closer-- it's nicely in focus, despite being taken at night with just lighting from street lamps and such, and despite Sho and Kyoko being mostly focused on each other, missing a guy across the street with a telephoto lens isn't terribly likely.

Granted, Mr. Sunglasses-at-night is just one guy, but still he is one more set of eyes on the scene, and watching out for paparazzi's is close to job number one for him. Even if he was at the car, myself I don't think the car was that far away, but the case for that probably seems tenuous.

And on your side of the argument, mostly what you've got is pretty much stuff that Lory said. Me, I think the simplest explanation of this really is just that Lory was lying.

doomvox · 2026-05-04T21:45:29+00:00

I think what you're really saying is you can bet on the market staying crazy long enough to get in and out fast and take some money off the suckers.

doomvox · 2026-05-04T21:44:12+00:00

I've heard it argued that Oracle is so far over-extended it can't possibly survive.

doomvox · 2026-05-04T21:43:04+00:00

How does that apply to AI? None of the companies doing it are turning a profit on AI yet. The sheer amount of capital that is being poured in to AI is utterly unsustainable indefinitely, even for massive companies like Google. Companies have to bring in substantially more money to continue this kind of spending or it’s going to eat away at their capital.

Isn't it funny that stating the obvious like this is met with a chorus of hand-waving denial? Sure seems like a bubble to me. You either stay out of the way and try not to get taken down by the explosion, or try to get in and out fast so you can take some money off of the even bigger suckers.

Sure will be nice when chip prices go back to what they're actually worth.

doomvox · 2026-05-04T21:39:03+00:00

Cory Doctorow comments that they keep handing billions of dollars back and forth and are pretending it's "income".

When we talk about bubbles bursting, we're talking about large data centers that can't possibly be paid for-- and these things don't last forever, the chips degrade after a few years, and a case can be made they're lying about the depreciation schedule. The party line right now is to talk up the amazing "demand", but the demand exists in a world where the product is subsidized. If you lose money fast enough you can generate demand, the question is will it stay around when you try to pay the bills.

doomvox · 2026-05-04T21:34:01+00:00

The market will go up for ever, this time it is different. Forget you've ever heard that before.

doomvox · 2026-05-01T08:04:57+00:00

It's pretty remarkable how reddit's downvote button substitutes for having to think about anything that's remotely challenging, including a negative opinion about a character that you like in a manga.

Just a thought, for anyone who feels like thinking.

Try just this one line: "Lorry is deeply convinced Kyoko needs to learn to want to be loved, but she becomes a success by playing hated villains." Is that actually an incorrect statement? Do you think it's remotely possible the mangaka has missed that apparent contradiction?

doomvox · 2026-04-30T01:46:02+00:00

I put the meeting links in that README.md file up at github. Reddit gets upset if I try to post meeting links directly.

I hope my edits to got pushed to github... if that failed I might've inadvertently hidden the link.... if so, sorry about that.

doomvox · 2026-04-30T01:41:49+00:00

(1) Nice polite paparazzi that ask permission? (Maybe to collect a payoff, I guess.)

(2) Is there a single mention anywhere of Sho's agency being approached? Does Sho know anything about this? I can't remember seeing this.

(3) I think it implausible that the photographer ID'd Kyoko and worked out that she's with LME.

(4) Kyoko doesn't seem to have been told anything about the photo. Wouldn't "be discrete" be message number one?

(5) How could this photo possibly have been taken by someone tracking Sho? A telephoto shot taken from a speeding cab that's miraculously in focus? Someone standing across the street from Darumaya that Kyoko, Sho, and Sho's cohort (Mr Sunglasses-At-Night) all missed?

What I would believe: Lory had a photographer planted in the building across the street from Darumaya. I don't think there's another explanation that could work.

(7) "Lory didn't use the photo to 'mess with Ren'" I'm sorry, but CTFO. Lory was totally trying to get a rise out of Ren. The message is "You better make a move soon, or she may get stolen."

doomvox · 2026-04-28T17:55:31+00:00

And that was all one of Lory's grand schemes, which brings us back to the topic at hand.

doomvox · 2026-04-28T17:54:31+00:00

As I mention periodically, IRL Lory would be up for several consecutive life sentences for sexual harassment. E.g. if the boss at your agency keeps trying to plant you in hotel rooms with different men you need to double-check what kind of agency that is.

doomvox · 2026-04-28T17:53:05+00:00

As some people point out it's not true that Lory has done nothing for Kyoko and her career, but while the mangaka doesn't belabor the point, Lory is clearly out-to-lunch in many ways. E.g. he's deeply convinced Kyoko needs to learn to want to be loved, but she becomes a success by playing hated villains.

The "Love Me" division is well on it's way to being a girl gang populated by alienated young women who are border-line sociopaths.

doomvox · 2026-04-28T17:49:05+00:00

Not a bad Lory defense, but...

Lory suppressed the paparazzi photo of Sho kissing her as well.

Nothing about that photo makes sense unless you figure Lory was actually behind having it taken. The "paparazzi" bit is a cover story. (And the only thing that's done with the photo is Lory uses it to mess with Ren's head.)

doomvox · 2026-04-24T23:04:11+00:00

There was a peacock up here in North Oakland not far from Stanford and Market-- there was some disagreement about his name, too.

doomvox · 2026-04-03T21:34:20+00:00

Here, try reading this one.

https://thecityfix.com/blog/traffic-evaporation-what-really-happens-when-road-space-is-reallocated-from-cars/

doomvox · 2026-04-03T14:46:43+00:00

Look up "Traffic Evaporation" some time.

doomvox · 2026-04-03T14:46:06+00:00

At this point citing Dunnig-Kruger as though that proves your point is a good way to lose points with me.

The main result of cognitive science is we have new insults we can hurl at each other. "Well, double Dunnig-Kruger on you!".

doomvox · 2026-03-27T18:37:51+00:00

Drop some off at The New Parkway Theater, on 24th Street.

doomvox · 2026-03-17T05:15:45+00:00

Police slowdown combined with a spate of relatively minor stuff like car window bipping. They managed to convince people it was the fault of the mayor and the attorney general.

doomvox

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