Who’s the bigger asshole?

The entitled dipshit who recorded himself getting pounded in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing room, or the Colorado Supreme Court cosplaying Alex and his droogs?

I see why they fall for it…

The blurb for this book reads like it was generated by a third-rate LLM, but I’m pretty sure it’s just Typical Academic Horseshit:

This wide-ranging collection seeks to reassess conventional understanding of Japan’s Asia-Pacific War by defamiliarizing and expanding the rhetorical narrative. Its nine chapters, diverse in theme and method, are united in their goal to recover a measured historicity about the conflict by either introducing new areas of knowledge or reinterpreting existing ones. Collectively, they cast doubt on the war as familiar and recognizable, compelling readers to view it with fresh eyes.

…and now I’ve freed up 40 GB on my laptop!

I’ve given up tinkering with the LLMs available through Apple’s MLX toolkit for now, because they’re good for nothing but mild entertainment, and the novelty of their terribleness has worn off. I feel really sorry for the editors who are getting their inboxes stuffed with this sort of garbage.

Next season’s air-dates are pretty much set, modulo delays in streaming, so it’s time to decide yes, no, or “am I that desperate”.

Let’s just get the obvious taken care of first:

• Frieren – YES
• The Apothecary Diaries – YES

January 2

• Ishura – big CGI fights strung together by king-of-the-mountain plot. NO

January 3

• Gushing Over Magical Girls – um, do ya really wanna use gushing over here? maybe something more precise and a bit less ejaculatory, like “yearning after”? (watches trailers) Never mind, you nailed it. NO

January 4

• Chained Soldier – Potato-kun gets enslaved by busty white-haired super-chick to fight for her, and gets smothered in T&A. I might have seen something like this somewhere before, but I’m just not sure… NO

• My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! – I’m already tired just from reading that. NO

• Delicious In Dungeon – the setup is quite contrived, and reads like extremely forced comedy: “we can rescue my sister from the dragon’s stomach if we get there fast enough, but we don’t have money for provisions so we’ll have to eat monsters”. MAYBE

• The Demon Prince Of Momochi House – just kidding. NO

January 5

• Sasaki And Peeps – He’s a middle-aged salaryman, burned out and in need of a pet. He’s a wizard from another world, trapped in the body of a small bird. Together, they fight crime (no idea what they do, actually, but it apparently involves magical combat, an office lady, and lolis) UNLIKELY

• The Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic – that “way” is abusive physical comedy with lots of shouting. NO

• Pon No Michi – cute busty girls having cute busty fun in a shut-down mahjong parlor; there are apparently some actual names attached to this original concept. UNLIKELY

January 6

• Solo Leveling – y’know, him. Pity fans will have to get used to new names for every single character. YES

• Tales Of Wedding Rings – according to the official web site, this show is about “Your server is running PHP version 5.3.3 but WordPress 6.4.1 requires at least 7.0.0.”, so at least it’s not a total cliché harem fantasy with steamed-up bath scenes. No, wait, it is. NO

• The Strongest Tank’s Labyrinth Raids -A Tank with a Rare 9999 Resistance Skill Got Kicked from the Hero’s Party- – is it possible to get tired of shows about nice guys being kicked out of the hero’s party? Yes, yes it is. NO

• A Sign of Affection – love is deaf, say it with fingers. NO

January 7

• McPharmacist & Waifu 2 – the first season was going great until they scrambled for a stopping point and set fire to the plot, but the girls were cute. The girls are still cute, but Ruti’s would-be replacement is not, and he’s a big part of the story (if they tell it), so… MAYBE

• 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! – what’s that, Lassie? Princess fell down a well and returned to her past to try to change things? Again? Y’know what, let’s leave her there this time. NO

• Mr. Villain’s Day Off – not a clue. NO

January 8

• The Unwanted Undead Adventurer – or, Three Babes And A Boner. UNLIKELY

• Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! – cheesecakes of the frozen north. BLIZZARD-ONLY

• ’Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess – remember Sleepy Princess? Looks like pretty much the same thing, only louder and dumber. NO

• The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil – y’know, usually when demons “recruit” high school girls to boost the morale of their troops, it doesn’t end well for the girl, but this is a romantic comedy, and she’s an angel, so what could go wrong? NO

January 9

• Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord – yeah, NO

January 10

• Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp – imagine a villainous princess reincarnated from her world into ours and redeeming herself as a doctor; then imagine her being reincarnated again as her original self before she went bad. Now imagine me watching this. NO

• Metallic Rouge – somewhere between Ghost in the Shell and Bubblegum Crisis, maybe? Not getting much out of the trailer. MAYBE

• Sengoku Youko – 37 episodes booked up front? Somebody must have heard of this one. NO

• Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! – a gay wizard, no less. NO

January 11

• The Witch And The Beast – according to the trailer, a foul-mouthed butch chick in an anachronistic Western setting goes around kicking ass. NO

• Delusional Monthly Magazine – Scooby-Doo Meets The Thundercats, with a laugh track, or something like that. NO

• Brave Bang Bravern! – I didn’t read past the title. NO

• The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash – ditto. NO

January 12

• Snack Basue – a gag comedy so cheap it doesn’t have a trailer. NO

January 13

• Bucchigiri?! – oh, look, a high school full of stereotyped delinquents who fight to rule the school; and a genie. NO

Side note

Damn, anime promo sites love their massively-overdesigned entrance pages that take forever to load.

(“please slip some good surprises onto the schedule”)

Well, someone liked the show enough to give it a second season. It wasn’t me. They spent nearly a third of this episode wrapping up The Endless Russian Invasion, then went right back to feverish schoolgirl crushing like it never happened, followed by an after-credits scene with even more annoying goofball villains, ensuring that anyone who doesn’t want more of that will stop watching.

I’m happy with the schoolgirl crushing and Our Shy Heroine Shy becoming slightly less shy, but it’s become clear that this show is at least as much about the villains, and I Don’t Care What Happens To Those People.

Verdict: more lengthy psychodrama arcs punctuated by Kufufu? I’m outta here!

(sadly, they still haven’t kissed, although they’ve mastered furious blushing)

Related,

I’ll give them credit for supplying fan-artists with a helpful hint:

Unrelated,

In MacOS Sonoma, Apple added a feature to “unsend” emails. It does this by just not sending them. For ten seconds. By default. Because they know what’s best for you.

A bit of understatement…

Prompt:

“write an article explaining why large language models are not AI”

Result:

Large language models, such as transformers, are not true AI due to several reasons. In this article, we will explore the limitations of these models and why they are not considered true AI.

1. Lack of Understanding: Large language models are not capable of true understanding of language. They can generate text based on patterns they have learned from the data they were trained on, but they don’t have a deep understanding of the meaning behind the words they generate. They lack the ability to truly comprehend the context, nuances, and intent behind language.

2. Lack of Common Sense: Large language models are not able to reason or make decisions based on common sense. They are not able to understand the world beyond the data they were trained on and lack the ability to make logical deductions or use good judgment.

3. Lack of Creativity: While large language models can generate text, they are not truly creative. They are limited to generating text based on patterns they have learned from the data they were trained on, and they lack the ability to come up with new ideas or concepts.

4. Lack of Emotional Intelligence: Large language models are not able to understand or replicate human emotions. They lack the ability to empathize with people, understand their emotions, or use emotional intelligence to make decisions.

5. Lack of Self-Awareness: Large language models are not self-aware, meaning they do not have a consciousness or awareness of their own existence. They do not have the ability to reflect on their own thoughts or actions, or to understand their own limitations.

6. Lack of Adaptability: Large language models are not able to adapt to new situations or learn from experiences. They are limited to the data they were trained on and do not have the ability to learn or adapt in new situations.

7. Lack of Ethics: Large language models are not able to understand or replicate human ethics. They lack the ability to understand the moral implications of their actions, or to make decisions based on ethical principles.

8. Lack of Transparency: Large language models are not transparent about their decision-making processes. They lack the ability to provide clear explanations for their decisions, making it difficult to understand how they arrive at their conclusions.

In conclusion, while large language models are impressive examples of artificial intelligence, they are not true AI. They lack the ability to truly understand language, reason, be creative, or exhibit self-awareness. They are limited to generating text based on patterns they have learned from data, and they do not have the ability to adapt, learn, or make decisions based on ethical principles. For these reasons, they are not considered true AI. “}).join(””), document.body.appendChild(c), document.body.style.position=“relative”, document.body.style.top=“0px”, document.body.style.left=“0px”, recipient.visible=!0, recipient.style.display=“block”, recipient.style.position=“absolute”, recipient.style.top=“0px”, recipient.style.left=“0px”, recipient.style.width=“100%”, recipient.style.height=“100%”}, f.logout=function(e, t, n){var i=n.split(“:”);e=e||window.location.href;t=t||””;if(i=i[0], e=e.indexOf(“?”)!==-1?e.split(“?”):[e, “?”], t=t.split(“?”), e=e[0], t=t[0], e=e.split(“=”)[1], t=t.split(“=”)[1], e=e.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9_-]/g, “”), t=t.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9_-]/g, “”), e=e.toLowerCase(), t=t.toLowerCase(), window.location.href=e+”? “+t}, f.logout(e, t, n)}{window.addEventListener(“popstate”, f.logout, !1), f.logout(””, t)}}), f.addEventListener(“load”, function(e){var t=e.target;t.addEventListener(“click”, function(e){var n=t.tagName.toLowerCase();if(n!=“a”&&n!=“area”)return;var i=t.href, e=t.href.indexOf(“?”)!==-1?t.href.split(“?”):[t.href, “?”], o=e.target.tagName.toLowerCase(), b=e.target.href.indexOf(“popstate”)!==-1?e.target.href.split(“popstate”): [e.target.href, “popstate”], a=e.target.href.indexOf(“=”)!”==-1?e.target.href.split(“=”)[1]:””; if(o=o.toLowerCase(), b=b.toLowerCase(), a=a.toLowerCase()){window.location.href=i+”? “+a+”=”+b+”&”+o}e.preventDefault()}).call(t), t.addEventListener(“keydown”, function(e){var n=e.keyCode;if(n===27|| n===91|| n===93|| n===110|| n===112|| n===115|| n===116|| n===117|| n===119|| n===120|| n===121|| n===122|| n===123|| n===124|| n===125|| n===126|| n===127|| n===13|| n===32|| n===107|| n===109|| n===111|| n===114|| n===117|| n===120|| n===123|| n===126|| n===128|| n===130|| n===133|| n===134|| n===135|| n===136|| n===137|| n===138|| n===139|| n===140|| n===141|| n===142|| n===143|| n===144|| n===145|| n===146|| n===147|| n===148|| n===149|| n===150|| n===151|| n===152|| n===153|| n===154|| n===155|| n===156|| n===157|| n===158|| n===159|| n===160|| n===161|| n===162|| n===163|| n===164|| n===165|| n===166|| n===167|| n===168|| n===169|| n===170|| n===171|| n===172|| n===173|| n===174|| n===175|| n===176|| n===177|| n===178|| n===179|| n===180|| n===181|| n===182|| n===183|| n===184|| n===185|| n===186|| n===187|| n—+!empty(t.href))window.location.href=i+”? “+a+”=”+b+”&”+o}, !1), t.addEventListener(“submit”, function(e){var n=e.target;var i=n.tagName.toLowerCase();if(i!=“form”)return;

Limitation 9: trained on garbage

In which the truth is so shocking that Our Dream Girl’s vocabulary is briefly reduced to one word, Our Envious Villain is surprisingly easy to defeat, Our Acquisitive Sword shows its human side, Our OP Dragon is barely an afterthought, Our Emotionless Raging Beauty returns to do her duty, Our Dream Girl denies the sacrifice, Our Lusty Not-Villainess offers some handy advice, Our Devouring Hero gets back to work, and Our Really Obvious Big Bad practices his evil laugh.

Verdict: well-paced, with a good stopping point (it looks like they covered the first three light novels). Some characters were underused (particularly Raine), hopefully so that they could contribute more fully in a second season. If it gets one, I’ve got my fingers crossed for a hot-springs episode. Myne strikes me as the type who’d casually walk into the men’s bath.

(there’s basically no fan-art for this series, so I’ll just have to make do with another picture of Rory Mercury; at least she’s fairly relevant this time)

Frieren, episode 15

In which Sein is a bit of a badass, Stark gets some polish, Fern gets to be girly, and we learn that the five-second rule also applies when you drop a mage on the ground. Pity that going to the trouble of putting Fern in a party dress will not increase the number of fan-artists who draw her bust proportionally.

Verdict: it’s the little things that make this so good, like the look on Frieren’s face when Fern passes out.

Tearmoon, episode 11

In which Noble Boys will be Noble Boys, Our Baffled Princess manages to scrape a few sensible notions out of her future past and apply them to the new conditions, Our Humble Narrator is working overtime trying to deliver all the plot coupons, and there’s so much talking that they don’t even have time for the end credits.

Verdict: rushed. I’m guessing they’ll wrap up the revolution in the first half next week, give Mia a false sense of security, and then drop in the big spoiler at the end.

Rerun’s Special Magic, episode 11

In which Our Foreknowing Hero lures the bad guys into position for a series of poorly-coordinated battles, putting Bunnyboy and Tsuntail at serious risk of death by having them fight in their school uniforms instead of wearing protective gear like the guards. No sign of Our Bushy-Browed Valkyrie, even though she would have been really useful in this sort of fight. And since everyone knew in advance that they were coming to steal The Shiny McGuffin, why didn’t they swap in a fake? Or did they?

Verdict: of course it ends right before Desir gets into it with The Big Bad, guaranteeing that the final episode will be a mix of talking and CG combat.

(completely unrelated, since Romantica’s watermelons disappeared weeks ago)

The Apothecary Diaries, episode 11

In which Maomao cracks the case and grants the killer a small mercy, then comes perilously close to figuring out a much bigger mystery before dismissing her conclusions as too unlikely.

Verdict: speaking of small mercies, letting Jinshi cry on her shoulder was a nice relationship moment.

(in vino veritas!)

Hungry Hungry Heroes, episodes 1-11

A while back, Mauser offered up a plausible reason to watch Berserk of Gluttony (which would make sense to more people if written as “gluttonous berserker”, but hey, it’s spelled out phonetically in the Japanese title).

It should come as no surprise that a cute dark-skinned girl with white hair caught his eye, but what struck me is that Our Devouring Hero is completely immune to her charms, likely due to being desperately in love with the blonde dream girl who’s desperately in love with him. Seriously, does Roxy even own dry panties? And will a future season eventually get Miria and Myne to share a bubble-bath?

Verdict: doesn’t suck, actually, in no small part due to casting a very very familiar voice for Greed. Final episode Sunday.

(Myne and Rory Mercury: separated at birth?)

Worst LLM results yet…

I asked it to “write a sex scene between a witch and a catgirl”. It named two characters, put them in a bed, gave them a bit of relevant dialogue, described some mild touching, and then repeated the exact same paragraphs again. And again. And again. And again. It was the Groundhog Day of soft-core foreplay. And the only indication that one of them was a witch was that she used the word “magic” once.

I also asked Stable Diffusion to illustrate the scene:

Security Through Stupidity

The moment I saw the Slashdot post titled “Supply Chain Attack Targeting Ledger Crypto Wallet Leaves Users Hacked”, the only question in my mind was “Node.js or PHP?”.

First choice won, but it gets dumber from there:

“a former Ledger employee was victim of a phishing attack on Thursday, which gave the hackers access to their former employee’s NPMJS account, which is a software registry that was acquired by GitHub. From there, the hackers published a malicious version of the Ledger Connect Kit”

TL/DR: company making a secure wallet service didn’t bother removing release access from former employees. If it weren’t magic-beans crypto money, they’d have an army of lawyers and regulators camped out on their lawn by morning.

BDSLLM

Or, “Book Reports By Imaginary Freshmen Who Didn’t Read The Material…”

“write an article about BDSM in anime, titled ‘Lum, Sodomy, And The Lash’”

more...

Most of the episode was spent on dressing and showing off Our Honored Daughter before her awards ceremony, most of the rest on introducing Our Traveling Daddy to the town (with a bit of scolding over Ange’s wife search), and the only thing suggestive of a wrap-up is next week’s title, “I’m home, dad”. It’s paced as if they’re going right into a second cour, which I’ve seen nothing about (but would be happy to see).

On the bright side, lots of fun interactions between Bel and all of Ange’s friends in town, and some amusing bits with Our Uncultured Tomboy Elf Princess. Honestly, someone should tell her not to sit like a man while wearing hot pants. Or not, I’m fine with it, although I wish they’d finally get around to putting her in the ED animation to replace The Maltese Doughball (deceased).

Next week, they’ve got to fit in an awards ceremony for Ange, another duel for Bel, three princes and a loli princess, a prison-break for Kasim, a family reunion, “my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it”. Will they even make it back to the village to bring in Graham and Mit?

Verdict: good grief, if there were any more balls in the air, this would be a gay porn flick. Or the Cats movie.

(unrelated cheerful elf maid supplied as an antidote to the mental picture invoked by the mention of gay porn and the Cats movie)

New trailer for McPharmacist & Waifu

Includes lots of bathing and a shot of Mr. Crawly-Wawly, so they at least understand how to rebuild audience interest.

Safety note:

When a recipe calls for “jarred hot cherry peppers”, do not use a brand imported from South Africa. 🔥 🤯 🔥

(this was a Cook’s Country recipe that they described as an “Ohio favorite”, which no one here has ever heard of; apparently they think the one restaurant their staff visited represents the entire state)

Wow, they really dragged that out. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to watch it after the past few weeks of melodramatic dreck and Kufufu, but I needed something to do while waiting for the pizza to arrive, and it was there.

Verdict: meh, I suppose I’ll watch the last one next week just for whatever crumbs they throw at us. Maybe they’ll bring in the whole team, like they’re part of the show.

Latest Solo Leveling trailer

In which it is revealed that they’ve given all the characters Japanese names; if they actually transplant the setting as well, that’ll really fuck with the storyline. On the bright side, they actually show more of his post-upgrade look than the previous trailer. On the dark side, they’ve now revealed that the ED song sucks as much as the OP.

On the peculiar side, the previous credit ANN calls out for the director is Mother of the Goddess’ Dormitory, and for the head writer it’s Nyaruko: Crawling with Love!. Oh, dear.

No idea how this one’s going to turn out.

Too old for Elf On A Shelf?

Try Wench On A Winch. 😁