I have same problem, on various servers

It’s making me consider leaving Sync

Have you ever heard of the IRA?

Fuck Israel. Fuck AIPAC. Fuck Biden. Fuck Trump. Fuck Schumer.

I support Palestine. I support Hamas. Arresting, detaining, and threatening to deport student protestors at Columbia makes me more supportive of Palestine and Hamas.

Ah yeah, well… At least in America, the marketing gap is pretty wide I think! (mostly based around LLMs)

Our “AI” courseware was pretty basic outside of the facial recognition (which I found impressive, if not TOO useful). It would keep track of student responses and tailor some questions based on previous performance, but that’s pretty basic (I think it would have been better if our content developers knew how to work with the software)

About the marketing, we were actually a multimedia educational materials maker. Textbooks, courseware, video series , etc etc

The founder/CEO liked to pretend we were a tech company, but our bread and butter was VIPKids-style English lessons and textbook series with long shelf life. (I often felt like he was cosplaying as Jack Ma, Steve Jobs, or Jeff Bezos, if you know what I mean)

I have no good references that aren’t boring propaganda from state media… Search China Daily for stories about ed tech

Or more broadly, search for “Ed tech” or “educational technology”

I think our “AI” was mostly BS, but I guess it had its niche.

Oh that reminds me… When I worked at state media, we ran stories about AI facial recognition at the winter Olympics. The stories claimed that they could identify more than 99 percent of people wearing COVID masks (I suspect this may be an exaggeration, as airport immigration officials and train station officials would make people remove masks and smile for cameras)

Also, just remembered: During my time at state media, I recall reading some Xi Jinping quote along the lines of “Whoever has the best AI will control the future”

My company in China added AI to its products basically to receive government subsidies.

They introduced it into courseware to track student faces and tell parents whether kids were enjoying lessons, paying attention, etc etc. It was weird to see in action. I used the software and acted like a “bad student” to see what it would say about my face and lack of attention.

I’m also a voice actor. They tried to replace me with AI voices but the voices in 2021 were stuck in the uncanny valley and clients complained.

The company pretty much went belly-up when Beijing introduced the Double Reduction policy. I wonder what became of the their software? And I wonder if they ever made an AI version of my voice

Where would you prefer I hide a corpse?

The Sopranos theme music

My wife and my bandmates

Mulletsgalore.com

Cook at home. Use mostly fresh ingredients. Staple foods are cheap… Rice, beans, etc

Beans and rice with oil and vinegar can hit the spot every day for lunch

Cold cut sandwich with fresh veggies. Bonus for homemade bread!

Eggs. Pasta. Eggs & pasta

For snacks, popcorn on your stove. Flavor with salt or spices. (I love Tajin!)

Keep a few spices in your kitchen. Have a decent olive oil and something high temp like grapeseed or vegetable oil

Avoid alcohol. If you must, don’t drink in bars. (I’m alcoholic… I know it’s hard to quit)

Learn how to properly operate your home’s thermostat in summer and winter. Set it for automatic and dial in your preferred temperature. Leave it constant. This is vastly more efficient than turning it on and off and on and off.

Don’t speed when driving a car. It takes more gas and can get you ticketed

Don’t pay for TV or streaming services. Just pirate. Pirate games too. Books from libgen

For internet access, it may be best value to get unlimited mobile data and make a Hotspot for your PC

Have a specific savings plan. Set X% aside immediately after receiving each paycheck. If possible, get a high-interest account where you’re required to make monthly deposits

If you have a hobby, hopefully it’s cheap. If you can monetize it without killing your passion, go for it. If you have an expensive hobby, try to make enough money from it to offset the costs (I study fiddle. I busk to pay for strings, bowhair, and occasional lessons)

Consider leaving the US for a place that’s cheaper or offers better terms. I left to teach English in Korea and China. Was able to save money and have a robust social life.

They should have all those police officers arrest Netanyahu

Mr. F!

Katamari Damacy