romacrunch

Latest Posts by romacrunch

ed zitron, a tech beat reporter, wrote an article about a recent paper that came out from goldman-sachs calling AI, in nicer terms, a grift. it is a really interesting article; hearing criticism from people who are not ignorant of the tech and have no reason to mince words is refreshing. it also brings up points and asks the right questions:

if AI is going to be a trillion dollar investment, what trillion dollar problem is it solving?

what does it mean when people say that AI will "get better"? what does that look like and how would it even be achieved? the article makes a point to debunk talking points about how all tech is misunderstood at first by pointing out that the tech it gets compared to the most, the internet and smartphones, were both created over the course of decades with roadmaps and clear goals. AI does not have this.

the american power grid straight up cannot handle the load required to run AI because it has not been meaningfully developed in decades. how are they going to overcome this hurdle (they aren't)?

people who are losing their jobs to this tech aren't being "replaced". they're just getting a taste of how little their managers care about their craft and how little they think of their consumer base. ai is not capable of replacing humans and there's no indication they ever will because...

all of these models use the same training data so now they're all giving the same wrong answers in the same voice. without massive and i mean EXPONENTIALLY MASSIVE troves of data to work with, they are pretty much as a standstill for any innovation they're imagining in their heads

sleep until the morning

redraw of those gay people

timelapse:

"If you use em dash in your works, it makes them look AI generated. No real human uses em dash."

Imaging thinking actual human writers are Not Real because they use... professional writing in their works.

Imagine thinking millions of people who have been using em dash way before AI becomes a thing are all robots.

REBLOG IF YOU'RE A HUMAN AND YOU USE EM DASH

I'm gonna tell my kids this was Sunrise On the Reaping

I just want to say how much I love how anime writers came up with the idea of ​​a Signal Samurai and the idea of ​​showing the trio as children. Now Miles' obsession with Steel Samurai is not only a funny trait of the seemingly serious and cruel prosecutor but also his escape to a happy childhood with his friends. I remember one post (or comment?) where the author interpreted Phoenix's keychain being more worn as a sign that he wears his heart on his sleeve, while Miles' is treasured because he's afraid to open up to other people and keeps his heart on lock. But then Miles starts wearing his keychain everywhere and isn't afraid to show it off no matter how embarrassing it is and it's a sign of him healing and becoming a better person. I really like this theory and although know it won't happen, I would love to see the Signal Samurai in the games.

whatever. go my noelle

just told this prosecutor in my case to shut the fuck up now hes sitting like this

reblog if you’re okay with people writing fanfics of your fanfics and/or fanfics inspired by your fanfics

fanfic writing culture isn’t “oh dang! I wanted to write about this prompt with this character but someone else already wrote it, so now I can’t”.

fanfic writing culture is always “two cakes is better than one. the more the merrier. there can ever be enough fics of this character with this prompt!”

So, I saw this image on Facebook, and it was supposedly showing what Queen Nefertiti would have looked like in real life:

Now, I thought this AI generated garbage was just truly terrible on a number of levels; first off, she looks wayyyyyy too modern - her makeup is very “Hollywood glamour”, she looks airbrushed and de-aged, and as far as I’m aware, Ancient Egyptians didn’t have mascara, glitter-based eyeshadows and lip gloss. Secondly, her features are exceptionally whitewashed in every sense - this is pretty standard for AI as racial bias is prevalent in feeding AI algorithms, but I genuinely thought a depiction of such a known individual would not exhibit such euro-centric features. Thirdly, the outfit was massively desaturated and didn’t take pigment loss into consideration, and while I *do* like the look of the neck attire, it's not at all accurate (plus, again, AI confusion on the detailing is evident).

So, this inspired me to alter the image on the left to be more accurate based off the sculpture’s features. I looked into Ancient Egyptian makeup and looked at references for kohl eyeliner and clay-based facial pigment (rouge was used on cheeks, charcoal-based powder/paste was used to darken and elongate eyebrows), and I looked at pre-existing images of Nefertiti, both her mummy and other reconstructions. While doing this, I found photos of a 3D scanned sculpture made by scientists at the University of Bristol and chose to collage the neck jewellery over the painting (and edited the lighting and shadows as best as I could).

Something I see a lot of in facial recreations of mummies is maintaining the elongated and skinny facial features as seen on preserved bodies - however, fat, muscle and cartilage shrink/disappear post mortem, regardless of preservation quality; Queen Nefertiti had art created of her in life, and these pieces are invaluable to developing an accurate portrayal of her, whether stylistic or realistic in nature.

And hey, while I don't think my adjustments are perfect (especially the neck area), I *do* believe it is a huge improvement to the original image I chose to work on top of.

I really liked working on this project for the last few days, and I think I may continue to work on it further to perfect it. But, until then, I hope you enjoy!

Remember, likes don't help artists but reblogs do!

The Reluctant Victor, inspired by The Reluctant Bride by Auguste Toulmouche - I just thought that this painting was SO perfect for Katniss and I had to draw it!

i’d love to see someone write this, i’d do it myself if i had the skills to hhhh

SOTR/THG Fanfiction Idea:

Haymitch succeeded in pushing everyone away after the incident with his family, worried he'd put his friend's lives in danger. Not even able to tell them why he's pushing them away, and watching everyone slowly leave his side. Finally content (and so very lonely) about how they can't be hurt because of him. He thinks he made the right decision.

A year passes, and he goes on with life begrudgingly, learning how to be a mentor, so he can at least try to give these kids (most of which are around HIS age if not his age) a fighting chance. Working sponsorships, galas, etc. Crumbling at his first lost tributes. Knowing he'll be doing this every year unless he gets a victor and trying to cope with it.

Then another year later, it's his birthday again. But someone must truly hate him. For it's Burdock Everdeen's name that gets picked for the games while he's 18 (his last chance of even being able to be picked) alongside a girl, and Haymitch is now forced to mentor his ex-best friend and get him through the arena, working under the Capitol's gaze. All the while still learning how to be a mentor period. (and feel the everlasting guilt that he didn't push Burdock far enough and he got picked because of Haymitch - Whether or not this is true).

A friendship reunion except it's in a way literally no one asked for.

This is so fucking funny

old lego figure of remus werewolf 🧎‍♂️🧎‍♂️🧎‍♂️

i think i got the major ones

I made these as a way to compile all the geographical vocabulary that I thought was useful and interesting for writers. Some descriptors share categories, and some are simplified, but for the most part everything is in its proper place. Not all the words are as useable as others, and some might take tricky wording to pull off, but I hope these prove useful to all you writers out there!

(save the images to zoom in on the pics)

(x)

sibling is back home!!!!!!!! i missed you

Think there might be a bug infestation in my sketchbook

happy 8th anniversary to hollow knight!

was thinking of making some art but i felt too burnt out to do it after school so never mind

if I meet u at a party I will often hand you my phone and say something like "this is a list of names for girls. please read through and then add one." the list is special because you can only add to it in person; I won't add something that you tell me about over text. however, I think it's okay for me to share it here. without further ado, I present: girl names (names for girls)

drew over something i wrote for a class and liked :] sorry the cars are lowkey ugly, its because I fucking hate cars and cant be bothered to learn what they look like beyond ominous hunks of metal

edit: transcript of the poem by itself under the cut

6 Tips for Crossing the Road

Look both ways

The road is for cars. 

Make sure to look for them before crossing. Even when you have the right of way, cars have a lot of safety features and you have none. 

Use designated crosswalks 

The road is for cars. 

So is the crosswalk but, under brief and temporary conditions, you can use it too! Never jaywalk, never walk in the road, just hope there is a clear and functional sidewalk. 

Cross at the light

The road is for cars. 

There are rules and signs for them, but that can only go so far. Walk quickly and hold your breath and hope that the light doesn't turn. Make eye contact with drivers as their cars teem with potential energy, rumbling with disdain at the inconvenience of your crossing. Try to ignore the cloud of exhaust that you are in and they are above. 

Leash your pets

The road is for cars. 

Obviously. 

To you, it may be natural to sacrifice so much space to them but to your dog, it is not. His instinct is to explore freely. You must curb it. Modern US car models have such high hoods that the average child, let alone dog, is obscured. Even on the sidewalk, hold the leash tight because the sidewalk (if you are so blessed) is next to the street and the threat still looms.

Look out for road kill

The road is for cars. 

And no one was there to leash the deer. 

Or the raccoon. 

Or the cat. 

Did you know that the most reliable sample method for wildlife in an area is looking at the roadkill? 

Remember these tips

The road is for cars. 

Cars are everywhere. In the city. In the suburbs. In the country. In the woods (the US Forest Service manages more roads than the entire Ministry of Transit in China.) Cars are everywhere because there are roads to bring them there, which is great if you are a car and want to get from place to place fast without worrying about the in-between. 

Unfortunately, you are not a car. 

You are an animal. 

You are in-between. 

So remember to look both ways. 

remember that nothing’s in isolation. we are all shaped by others, and will shape others in our lifetimes. you aren’t alone ^^

does anyone wanna hold hands until we feel a little braver

Obsessed with the trope of when the Heroic Sacrifice does not work.

When the character fails to heroically sacrifice themself and now has to face all the loved ones they were about to leave.

Or even worse, the character does sacrifice themself, but it doesn't fix the situation. So those left behind have to face not only the grief of losing them, but also knowing that it was in vain.

this is MY FAVORITE GAME

That Man - patched

So, once upon a time, in the days of the AAI2 fan translation, Edgeworth's mention (to Fender) of 'a certain attorney' (a phrase that had invariably referred, like 'that man', to a certain Mr Wright) and his words of wisdom, was immediately followed by this:

And nrmt shippers were very excited and have been quoting it at every opportunity since. Understandably.

When the official translation was released, these lines had been changed, seemingly to remove the suggestion that Phoenix was the 'attorney/man' being talked about in this moment, and only referring to Edgeworth's father.

And nrmt shippers were a bit nonplussed and wondered if it had all been a mistranslation after all, but largely understood the importance of Edgeworth snr particularly in light of the overall themes of AAI2 and didn't cry too much. It was a little disappointing though.

There has since been a patch.

Mostly to correct typos which is in itself awesome actually because there were a lot of them and it was literally my only complaint.

Also, to do this:

That Capcom cared enough to go back and restore 'That Man' to his rightful place in Edgeworth's thoughts alongside his father, and patch this back into the game is just ... not the sort of thing I had any expectation of them doing. But I'm very glad they did!

My boy... baby baby boy....