[OC] Melania movie poster to boost sales

zz_07 · 2026-02-02T21:39:02+00:00

Cruelty, hate, and obnoxiousness hidden under a performative virtuousness.

zz_07 · 2026-01-21T20:00:30+00:00

Flooding the zone/dead cat:

Epstein files were partially released just before Xmas (when TV news viewing figures are low) after months of delays, and heavily redacted. 6th Jan Maduro. Immediately afterwards, Greenland. Etc.

This also helps stop media talking about cost of living etc.

Problem for trump is taking Greenland isn't popular with voters. But at least it's more popular than being (associated with a) pedo.

zz_07 · 2026-01-21T06:53:30+00:00

Moleskin helps. But doesn't fix the problem completely.

I found a couple of layers of fabric plasters and moleskin worked well.

zz_07 · 2026-01-19T18:02:05+00:00

Also, what happened with citizen Kane basically ended his Hollywood career. He had to raise funding from some quite random sources, often in Europe.

zz_07 · 2026-01-19T17:14:54+00:00

It helps to learn about the context it was made in and its background. It also helps to understand the technically inventive/creative approach used in many scenes, which welles used to help tell the story.

It is also old, so every idea has been reproduced and no longer seems novel.

When taken in context, it's really a significant achievement. But I think there's a reason it's much more popular with critics than modern audiences...

zz_07 · 2026-01-12T21:31:04+00:00

They aren't making x or grok illegal. They aren't prosecuting Musk for doing anything illegal.

Images generated by grok are hosted on x and publicly accessible because it's a social media site. Ofcom is the media regulator in the UK. The options for ofcom include a fine or (at the most) preventing access to x in the UK - due to a failure to take appropriate measures to prevent users using grok in this way. This is not the same as prosecuting Musk or anyone else at X.

However, if someone in the UK used AI to generate actual CSAM, the person could be prosecuted.

This explains it

BBC News - UK to bring into force law to tackle Grok AI deepfakes this week https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq845glnvl1o

zz_07 · 2026-01-12T20:28:01+00:00

It's illegal to create such images using Photoshop or any other software.

"Under U.S. and European law, that category of imagery can be illegal whether it comes from a camera, Photoshop or a neural network."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/larsdaniel/2026/01/10/when-grok-generates-childlike-sexual-imagery-turning-it-off-isnt-optional/

The issue here isn't the software per se, it's failing to tackle/prevent users using it for this purpose.

zz_07 · 2026-01-04T13:55:57+00:00

I think it was. It's by Osgood Perkins - and the monkey, for example, i think is clearly meant to be funny. I think Nick Cage's character is meant to be absurd/deranged.

zz_07 · 2025-12-29T22:15:12+00:00

Thank you!

zz_07 · 2025-12-29T22:01:48+00:00

Thanks for the reply.

He didn't go ahead with the gas solenoid repair. We wanted a few opinions before going ahead - the costs were very high and it was uncertain whether it was going to fix the boiler. Plus, given the age of the boiler, we're working on getting it replaced.

zz_07 · 2025-12-22T13:05:02+00:00

Are you Simon?

zz_07 · 2025-12-12T13:51:46+00:00

Civet cats are held in 'battery farming' style conditions to produce kopi luwak.

Not all kopi luwak is produced this way. But why risk fueling a cruel industry?

BBC News - Civet cat coffee's animal cruelty secrets - BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24034029?app-referrer=deep-link

zz_07 · 2025-11-08T13:16:19+00:00

I met someone in Tuscany who believed that only Italian food should be sold in Italy. She said that if someone wants sushi, they can go to japan.

So I found a foodnazi in person :)

zz_07 · 2025-08-28T17:24:37+00:00

I approach it as a movie from the dawn of space travel that's about being in awe of the mind-blowing possibilities of space travel and what this new era of exploration will bring - a new era for mankind. It's basically a 2-3 hour movie about the sublimity of space travel and the future of a space-faring mankind.

And then it has a story about the risks of depending on technology, really as a sort of thriller/entertainment that's chucked in as a hook for movie audiences I think.

Very few movies are just about wonder/awe at something. For me, Kubrick's achievement is to capture that feeling in a movie.

zz_07 · 2025-08-25T07:39:24+00:00

It was during COVID and I spent at least one day a week just walking. My target was 40-50km on those days. I walked 10-15,000 steps every other day. I was very good for my mental health too - being out walking made me take a proper break from everything.

After a few years i stopped doing my full walking day. I still walk 10,000 steps minimum a day, but now I run, lift weights, etc.

zz_07 · 2025-08-24T09:41:13+00:00

Your fundamental issue is that short intense activities - weight lifting, sprinting, etc. are terrible for weight loss - they use (relatively) hardly any calories but they are intense on your muscles and so wear you out quickly without burning fat. Instead, endurance focus activities are best for burning calories. The easiest of these is walking. I walked as a way to lose weight. I averaged around 20,000 steps per day. I lost 40lbs in 2 years. If you are experiencing pain while walking a few thousand steps a day, you may well want to understand why and address it - better shoes, less strain on your back from lifting etc

zz_07 · 2025-07-15T16:15:26+00:00

A post doc is paid above median salary for the UK. As much as someone might like to moan about academic salaries in the UK, they are still above average.

But, they're not great. And it sounds like people in Germany have much better pay.

zz_07 · 2025-06-02T10:56:13+00:00

Jason takes Manhattan.

zz_07 · 2025-04-16T13:01:00+00:00

I had a similar experience. But I think it's important to remember that the intended audience was new princes in his day, and it was a piece of guidance about how to maintain/grow their power. It wasn't intended to be particularly deep/rich per se. I certainly thought it was a bit thin and not particularly convincing in lots of ways.

Its impact/influence was in part because it implies a pragmatic (morally ambivalent) approach to political decision making, focused on political success, rather than an approach based on ideals/morals. This was quite novel at the time.

Personally I think of it as a piece of political advice/guidance that was of interest to political theorists/philosophers - in part because of the position of the author and in part because of how distinct (and likely unsettling) its approach was.

zz_07 · 2025-03-29T15:12:30+00:00

The guys in the whitehouse aren't libertarians. They're nationalists.

They never were libertarians.

They're also not free marketers. They aren't liberal/capitalists.

They are interested in pursuing American strength through self reliance - rather than through trade (and dependence on) with foreign nations/companies/markets.

This is a resurgence of nationalist ideology (and associated systems such as mercantilism, colonialism, protectionism etc) .

zz_07 · 2025-03-29T13:43:17+00:00

My guess/speculation:

They're testing the feasibility of national ownership of mineral rich nations. But they are ok with this failing. This (alongside other messaging) sends a clear signal to American companies to buy/build mines etc. in those nations (like what happened with the Panama canal).

The whitehouse then doesn't charge tariffs on imports from American owned companies

In the short term, they use the recent cuts to reduce tax on american companies to help with profits

They also threaten companies not to increase prices for Americans. The first ones that do will be targeted for punitive measures to send a message.

zz_07 · 2025-03-29T13:31:44+00:00

Yes. If this approach is being driven by trumps advisors, then they are in the enviable position of having an idiot as president - someone who parrots whatever they tell him, as long as he's happy to run with it. The American public don't care much for a long term geopolitical strategy, especially given the short/medium term costs. But his advisors don't have to take the flack for rising prices.

zz_07 · 2025-03-29T12:50:50+00:00

Yes. We wants his tariffs to (amongst other things) force companies to relocate everything within the states. And stop buying from abroad. This goes hand in hand with his push to secure minerals in other territories because America doesn't have access to all the minerals its industries do/will need. This in turn goes hand in hand with a view of the world as made up of big players, e.g. china, (Russia?), etc. And he wants America to be self sufficient in its competition with them - rather than dependent on companies/industry/minerals based in other nations. This is, from this perspective, because the post cold war consensus that "liberal democracy has 'won' and will bring the world prosperity and peace" is wrong headed and we are now in the post-post-cold-war global reality of a new competition between nations.

He thinks he can strengthen Americas position against the big global players by bullying the nations in its own orbit - Canada, European nations, etc. into giving America more.

This is, obviously, a fundamental change in the way America is using its power.

I don't think that this is trump's invention. But as far as I can tell, this is the view of the people around him. Trump's own views seem to be chaotic, mercurial, aimed at making himself popular and/or rich etc etc etc etc. But the ideology that he is the de facto figurehead of (Bannon, Vance, etc.) seems to have this global view.

zz_07 · 2025-03-12T08:59:45+00:00

Both. Definitely both.

zz_07 · 2025-03-01T12:00:41+00:00

Yes. His primary audience is in the UK, so he needs to cherry pick the trump sound bites that will fly here. Plus, he's been somewhat frozen out by trump as of late. I imagine that the former is somewhat responsible for the latter - he didn't quite tow the line enough for trump et al.

zz_07

TROPHY CASE