Be The Power
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
The idea the the lights will go out because of the looming snow storm that is approaching my home looms large in my mind. I have a little bit of food to tied me over that I don’t have to cook.
It shouldn’t be more than just a few days if the lights go out. But it’s going to be a pain, nonetheless.
Anyway, I still need to work on my novel and it’s also a pain that I could be potentially knocked offline in that regard for a few days as well. Sigh
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I just don’t see us having free-and-fair elections again in my life time. I have a feeling the SAVE Act is going to pass and that will be that. We’ll become a zombie democracy like Hungary and, lulz, I’ll end up in some sort of camp.
I say this in the context of how ICE is slowly, but surely strangling our freedoms.
And Trump seems to be itching for an excuse to use the Insurrection Act (or martial law?) where ever he can.
AND, add to this, the very real possibility that Trump is going to run for an illegal third term. If he does that, man, am I going to pop a gasket. And, yet, I’m powerless. No one listens to me or takes me seriously.
So, all I got is just my usual blathering. But I will note that if Trump does attempt to run for a third term that there is a very good chance that he will literally destroy the United States.
The country will implode into chaos.
And, yet, lulz, like I said, there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it. I guess I can double down on the novel I’m working on, sell it, and get the hell out of the country.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
If you want a glimpse into one possible future for the world, look no further than the “Spacers” of the Isaac Asimov Robot series of novels. The specific book I would recommend is “Robots of Dawn.”
The Spacers lived a long time, but they also use androids as the basis of their civilization. This leads to them becoming stagnate and never expanding beyond a core set of planets — I think it was something like 100.
Meanwhile, other humans, who didn’t rely upon androids so much ultimately took over the galaxy. Anyway, the Spacers of Robots of Dawn are very relevant to today’s discourse about AI and robotics.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
For some reason, there is a rumor floating around that ICE’s next invasion point is Philadelphia. There has been a lot of talk about how rough the fine folks of The City Of Brotherly Love are compared to Minneapolis but, I don’t know.
I would like to THINK that that is the case. I would love it if ICE got the shit scared out of them by the people of Philly. And, yet, I have my doubts. Not that Philly people can’t do it, but for some reason ICE has managed to go into places like Chicago and Washing D.C. and…nothing.
There wasn’t nearly the push back that we’ve seen in Minnesota.
Anyway, as I keep saying, because of mission creep, I suspect that ICE is going to literally become American’s SS. They’re going to go way past just enforcing immigration laws into becoming fascists that just knock heads when necessary at the behest of Trump.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
While it’s really scary to think that Hollywood may be about to implode because of AI, I think actors as a profession should be fine. The transition will be turbulent, but once we reached the AI Hollywood Singularity, all the actors who lose their job because of AI will go into live theatre that will pick up the slack.
I think this will be the biggest change in Hollywood since the advent of the talkies.
So, what will happen is, instead of going to Hollywood, actors will want to go to Broadway. And, as such, the local live theatre will see a huge influx of actors as people want something that is real and live in real life.
That, at least, is the most hopeful outcome.
I suppose that it’s possible that people just want care and the entire Hollywood industry will implode and, lulz, their won’t be any jobs for actors at all. That’s kind of the dystopian outcome.
But I’m hopeful.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
While Spotify is beginning to do more with AI, they have all this data about users it’s interesting that they haven’t done *more* with AI. What I would do is use one of the better open source AIs and use that as the interface for Spotify.
That would be interesting.
It would be be interesting if you had instead of a cacophony all these songs to choose from — a datastorm, if you will — you would have a Knowledge Navigator type situation that would be at your beck and call.
That seems to be the logical progression of things, all things considered. It would be interesting, if nothing else.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Trump has his SS now, apparently, with a whistleblower claiming that ICE agents are being told they can just crash into your house and seize you as necessary. I keep expecting ICE, because of mission creep, to show up on my front doorstep and demand me explain my online ranting.
It’s just a matter of time at this point, I fear.
I’ve decided that I while I won’t fight back, I will stand my ground. I know my rights and if I’m not doing anything untoward, I’m in the right. I’m going to scream at the top of my lungs — and have some choice words for some MAGA people I know — as I get dragged out into the night.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Allegedly, according to some weather apps, where I live is set to get as much as 26.2 inches of snow this weekend. Apparently, however, not only is that complete bullshit, but weather conditions have change to the point that we’ll all be lucky to get anything but a little bit of icy rain.
But if we did get that much snow, the thing I would worry about, of course, is the lights going out. I got some perishables that I would not have to heat with that in mind, but of course, I’ve started to eat them already.
And, yet, I think I’m safe. I don’t think we’re getting that much snow and I will hopefully get off my ass and start back to working on the novel starting as soon as possible.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I have been kind of zoning out the last few days, now that I’ve entered, yet again, the “bad guys closing in” part of the novel. What I hope to do is really be more thoughtful about what I write so I won’t have as much work to do down the road.
The key thing I’m going to have to do is stop being so lazy when it comes to my scene summaries. It’s fine to use AI to write scene summaries, but it’s not fine to hone a little bit too close to what AI proposes for the scene when you actually sit down to write.
So, what I think I’m going to do is read the scene summaries a few times and then just write without using them as so much of a literal guide. That way, anything I write will be completely in my own voice.
That’s the goal, at least.
I don’t want anyone to just roll their eyes at me and say I’ve just written AI slop instead of a novel with my own hands. So, in the second half of the novel I really hope to prove to myself — if no one else — that I’m the author of the novel and not AI.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
We have to accept that we are in a new age, a new era. America is now run by a mad king, an America Caligula, and as such we have to look at things in a different way.
If we just lulz Greenland and let Trump seize it, then Canada will be next. And given the fact that Trump is, like, the Foundation series’ The Mule, he probably will get away with it. He probably will invade Canada, destroy all that and while there will be a lot of upheaval in the USA because of it, it’s not like he’ll be impeached and convicted.
Trump is, for the moment at least, not only a mad king, but a god-king. There’s just nothing we can do about the situation. Or, at least, there’s nothing we’re willing to do about the situation.
The US democratic political system is going to implode and it definitely looks as though China, the USA and Russia will divide the globe up into different spheres of influence.
Thankfully, Russia has an economy the size of Italy, so it can only do so much trouble in Europe unless it uses nukes — which is highly unlikely.
As for the USA, my fears about either dying in a camp or being thrown out a window by an ICE agent are growing…more possible, if not probable.
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