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wild_turkey

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Posts posted by wild_turkey

  1. +1, but recommend not literally renting a car from the city center as that is quite a harrowing experience. 


    Yes, this is absolutely true. My dumbass rented a car from a place in the basement of the Louvre, thinking it would be easy to find because I know where the Louvre is, plus it was close to our hotel. Won’t ever make that mistake again. Driving in the city center is crazy and I’ve driven all over Europe.

    Take a train or Uber to a rental car place on the outskirts of Paris on the day you are leaving the city.
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  2. So we're thinking of an October France trip and I'm favoring 5 days in Paris and 3 days somewhere else in France that's smaller but close enough to get back in time to fly out.
    My wife thinks 5 days in Paris is too much (bear in mind she's been twice without me, first time for me).  I can't imagine 5 days is nearly enough time in one of the worlds greatest cities.  
    Anyone want to make recommendations on anything in particular?


    We once did 5 nights in Paris followed by 3 nights in the Loire Valley. We stayed in Amboise, which we found to be a nice town with good access to nearby chateaus. If you find that kind of thing interesting, I would specifically recommend visiting Chateau Chambord and Chateau Chenonceau. The surrounding countryside is really beautiful as well.

    I would highly recommend renting a car in Paris so you have the freedom to explore on your own. I think it’s about a 1.5 hour drive from Paris.
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  3. I don't know if Mechanize is just an ambitious startup looking to make splashy headlines and get VC investments, or if there is actually some credibility to their goal of automating all jobs. Even if they fail, the idea of this happening has always been there and someone will always be trying to accomplish this unless society has the proper guardrails in place. Currently, the leadership of our country and China puts that in doubt.

    Brisket loves a doom and gloom scenario but I think he's absolutely right to be concerned about this. We can't simply ignore it or write it off as science fiction, then cry about it in 10, 20, 50 years when it actually happens. If a company in the U.S. (or anywhere) has a stated goal of replacing all human jobs, that is obviously quite problematic for the future of the human race. Even if they are only 75% successful in the end, that's an incredibly different world to live in and probably not for the better.

    I think with all disruptive technologies, there should be a type of hurricane forecast model that shows the most likely path as well as the extremes on either side. The best case scenario for AI is that it solves some complex problems like developing cures for cancer without too much collateral damage along the way. The worst case scenario for AI is quite terrible, and if we leave it up to the companies developing it to set their own rules, there will eventually be bad actors that will capitalize on the worst of what the technology is capable of. You could argue that there are currently more bad actors than good actors. There are more people motivated by greed, power, and personal glory than there are people motivated to cure cancer and solve the world's problems.

    I fear that even in the best case scenario, we will have a future in which the human experience is significantly dulled as a result of pervasive AI. We will lose a lot of our critical thinking capabilities and our creativity. It will be far easier to ask AI to do things for us than to actually attempt to solve our own problems. It will be far easier to ask AI to write a story or compose music or paint a picture than it will be for a human to do it independently. There are already people in this thread saying they use AI to create recipes from their pantry. I'm not judging, but that could become the norm for future generations and people will have a significantly reduced ability to do a lot of the things that makes us human. People will get used to seeing AI generated content on social media that surpasses what they actually experience in real life, which could make the real world less exciting and spectacular.

    The internet revolution is probably the best comparison, but there are a ton of negatives for society that people weren't dealing with 30 years ago. Social media is about 90% detrimental to society. Jobs have not been entirely eliminated by the internet, but many sectors were eliminated or significantly reduced. New jobs have been created, so that's a positive. The human experience, IMO, is generally worse by the fact that we are constantly staring at screens instead of doing things with other people.

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  4. Headed to PC in 2 weeks for a quick fly fishing trip. I’ve been there for skiing but it’s been a few years and never been in the summer. I think we’ll probably eat at High West one night because it seems like the thing to do.

  5. Y’all convinced me. Going at noon. 

    I have a casual interest in F1 meaning I turn it on in the background 2-3 times a year. This is a movie for movie fans in general, not just F1 or racing fans.

    The visuals and sound are incredible. We don’t have IMAX nearby but we saw it in a Dolby Cinema with a large screen and great sound and it felt like we were right in the middle of the action. The score by HZ was perfect and the soundtrack was very good.
  6. The problem is the people that keep electing psychopaths like Paxton, Abbott, and Patrick. They f'n love this shit.


    I don’t know if they love it so much as they are mostly ignorant and vote R without the slightest understanding of what that means.

    They’ve been brainwashed into thinking the Republican is the good ole Texas boy who loves Jesus, whereas the Democrat is the evil liberal who likes drugs, homosexuality, transgender bathrooms and sports, and killing babies. They don’t need to actually educate themselves on topics because they already know the above to be true and nothing will change their minds.

    They don’t care that our state AG has an affair, uses the powers of the AG office and taxpayer funds to hide it, and is so corrupt that a Republican dominant House overwhelmingly impeached him for betraying Texans. He is a Republican and therefore deserves their vote again, no questions asked.

    They don’t care that Greg Abbott received a massive campaign donation from Jeff Yass and pushed for a voucher program that benefits only a tiny percentage of Texans, all while ignoring the quality of public education for the masses. Abbott is a Republican and therefore represents good Christian and conservative values, and stands against the evil liberals who want sex changes in school bathrooms.

    Hell, when vouchers come up in conversation with friends, very few of them have any clue what it means. They almost all have school-aged children and should absolutely pay attention to these things. Yet they vote.
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  7.  U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL): The nation's water supply "is being severely contaminated" by abortion drugs.

    This problem already has a solution. We’re going to irrigate our crops with fracking waste water and it will increase infertility to Children of Men levels and then people won’t need abortion meds anymore.
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  8. What is the sargassum situation in the Miami area this year? We have a one night stop in a few weeks and I’m trying to figure out if we need to stay on the beach or just somewhere with a good pool. Obviously many hotels offer both, but it would help to know what to expect on the beach.

  9. i suspect daughter (primary driver of cruise, and likely driven by desire not to be dragged on hikes, etc. every day by dad) would be happy to spend 7-10 days in a couple of places in the Sorrento/Amalfi area, with iron clad guarantee that (1) I will not over plan, (2) many chill days will be baked in, and (3) she can opt out and go to the beach as desired.


    If you’re willing to fly to Europe and also to spend 7-10 days possibly split between 2 locations, you have so many incredible options that would check all of your boxes.

    Do a major city for 3-4 nights to give your son the museums and cultural stuff and your wife and daughter the shopping and nice dinners. Then head to the coast to relax near the ocean, essentially what you would be doing on a cruise ship, except in a nicer hotel in a single location for probably less money and a better mix of people around you.

    Some examples would be:

    1. Italy - Rome or Florence, then Amalfi Coast or Capri
    2. France - Paris, then Saint-Tropez or Nice
    3. Spain - Madrid, then Barcelona
    4. Croatia - Split, then Hvar or Vis
  10. That sounds to me like Rahr is on the verge of dying off. Moving out of a brewery without a new one lined up is not a promising sign. Someone on Reddit says they auctioned off their brewing equipment too.

  11. What could possibly go wrong?
     
     

    https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/abbott-signs-law-permitting-use-of-fracking-wastewater/287-89df9861-29c7-4faa-b658-d651f94013ae

    So basically the TCEQ will be responsible for monitoring that the fracking water meets certain safety standards, and we just have to trust that this process is sound and that no one will cut corners or turn a blind eye, because oil companies and our state government have a long history of caring about public health and putting the public’s best interests ahead of profits.

    And HB 49 apparently protects the oil companies, landowners, and water treatment companies in the event the water causes harm.
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