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You done messed up, A-A-Ron!
Thomas Jefferson University apologizes after commencement presenter flubs names. Unfortunately for the hapless presenter, the name cards used the International Phonetic Alphabet, a technical rendering used mainly by linguists. kænt rid ðɪs? Don't let it happen to you! Learn how to pronounce IPA spelling today, test your skills, or just entertain yourself with the world's most unintentionally hilarious soundboards.
Ouch
Jesus Xing Musk
Musk is not a tech visionary with a side interest in politics these days, nor is he just another bored billionaire with a nativist streak; the political activism and the technological ambitions are inseparable. He believes his work is part of a civilizational struggle in which woke progressives pose an existential threat to humanity. And he spends most of his days inside a feedback loop that’s radicalizing him even more. from I Read Everything Elon Musk Posted for a Week. Send Help. [Mother Jones; ungated] [CW: Elon Musk]
“We were told by his assistant he doesn’t do paintings like that"
WaPo gift link: Inside the surreal world of $20,000 pet portraits THIS GETS EXTREMELY WEIRD, features Alan Tudyk getting ESPECIALLY weird with his choice of pet portraits. (Disclaimer: gory descriptions within.) [more inside]
Battle Beyond the Movies
Roger Corman has left us. The ‘Movies’ as we knew them wouldn’t have reached their heights without him. He jump/kick-started the careers of Coppola, Nicholson, Cameron, Demme, Scorsese and so, so many more. With his passing it feels as if cinema, as we knew it…and perhaps the analog 20th century has truly passed. He also directed Teenage Caveman.
I See Demon Faces Everywhere
Slate: [W]e spoke to Maggie McCart, an administrative assistant at an Illinois university, who suffers from an extremely rare disease called prosopometamorphopsia, which inflicts patients with a variety of wild hallucinations when they look at someone’s face. (archive)
Astronomers detect Milky Way black hole w mass 33 times that of the Sun
Astronomers detect Milky Way black hole with mass 33 times that of the Sun. Astronomers have discovered the second-largest black hole known to be in the Milky Way, and it's located just 2000 light-years from Earth.
Soundgarden's Reunion Tour 2012
I don't know why YouTube is serving me all these concerts right now, but I'm not complaining. Here's Soundgarden - Hyde Park - Hard Rock Calling 7-13-2012 - Pro Shot (HQ) Full Show [1h54m], arguably the band at the height of their career after taking a break and reforming. This concert is shortly before the release of their final album King Animal. [more inside]
Chana Tower has frogs, snails, mushrooms and adventure
Fake Deep Fake
The Guardian (2021): "Mother charged with deepfake plot against daughter's cheerleading rivals". The Guardian (2024):
"She was accused of faking an incriminating video of teenage cheerleaders. She was arrested, outcast and condemned. The problem? Nothing was fake after all"
TATS
Snark Tank
Postmodern TVbox
AI has fostered a lot of mash-ups in various styles. Some guy named demonflyingfox has been turning popular animated and live-action series into colorized versions from the fifties. I'm not really doing it justice so check out Friends, The Simpsons, and SpongBob SquarePants among many others. [more inside]
"A Quiet Love" by Liza Minnelli
Liza sings a song while signing. This is new to me. A beautiful Charles Aznavour song. 1992 Radio City Music Hall.
"How long have you been doing that???"
YouTube is shoving animal videos at me, and so here are some animal videos! Here are 10 minutes of above-average cat videos; it's a compilation; it has annoying narration. Here are four minutes of owl videos with music that is not totally awful. Here is two minutes of an adorable rhinoceros calf getting acquainted with a zookeeper while mom looks on. And finally 3m30s of the most dramatic husky with their thoughts interpreted for the viewer.* [more inside]
Happy Mother's Day from Mr T (slyt)
3...2...1.... Fight!
Chatbot vs Chatbot The Chatbot Arena will randomly load two chatbots in answer to your prompt. You mark which one gives the better answer. The Arena uses these human responses to rank the top LLM chatbots on an ongoing basis. Over 1,000,000 prompts have been submitted and scored. [more inside]
This Is What Being in Your Twenties Was Like in 18th-Century London
This Is What Being in Your Twenties Was Like in 18th-Century London. A newly restored collection of letters describes a 27-year-old’s office job, social life and financial concerns beginning in 1719.
"Teacher Spice."
Peregrine Falcon babies on Alcatraz
This is a live feed (complete with screechy babies) of the successful return of Peregrins to Alcatraz. The mom is Larry (Lawrencium) from a nest on the UC Berkeley Campanile tower in 2018.