When I opened Lightroom on my iPhone last night, there was a pop-up letting me know I had early access to the new generative remove function. I can now remove unwanted objects and distractions within photos — even on complex backgrounds.
If Mr. Pesky Neighbor is too pesky, AI will send him home.
It’s pretty darned impressive — like he never roasted that hot dog at all.
It’s fun to play around with, but I guess I like the imperfections in candid photos. I’m not a fan of all the bajillion perfect photos (and photo fakes that look real) circulating right now. In the photo below, I could generative remove Merida’s butt — but big adjustments like that make the photo a memory that didn’t exist…
If AI could remove rain — for real — I might be ok with that right now. 😉
Now you know: In 2008, an Australian special forces dog named Sarbi spent almost 14 months missing in action after disappearing during an ambush. Eventually, an American soldier noticed her with a local man & confirmed she was a trained military dog by using voice commands. She was then reunited w/ her handlers.
This isn’t about politics insofar as who you should vote for. It is more about big tech and how people can be manipulated by it.
We’ve all seen the iconic photo of Trump surrounded by secret service after an assassination attempt. And we know it’s being censored by Meta (Facebook/Instagram/etc.). Dani Lever, a spokesperson for Facebook, called the censorship “an error.”
Ooops! Ok, I can understand that… especially since they let my 113 year-old dead grandma eat eclairs with another fake profile. 🙄
But then I noticed all the claims that Google searches were being rigged for Democrats. Ridiculous, right? Bah! It’s easy to check that claim for accuracy.
All you have to do is a simple Google search.
Uh oh. Searching for Kamala Harris I got what I expected… Kamala Harris top stories. But when I searched for Donald Trump, I didn’t get what I expected… I got more Kamala Harris. No matter what your politics are, that should concern you. It concerns me.
Dogs have it better than humans.
Dogs don’t worry that Google’s algorithm for predictive auto complete is whacked — for Democrats or against Trump, not sure which. Not one dog has read the article about it on Associated Press noting claims of election interference and wondered how that’s fair. They don’t need to worry about interest rates, immigration, abortion rights… or anything facing voters.
Matter of fact, Merida’s biggest worry is when she’s going to get a treat.
I’m not sure how we can endure this for 3 more months. 🙁
Now you know: The US Navy refused to cooperate with the filming of the movie Crimson Tide (1995), so getting officially sanctioned footage of a submarine wasn’t possible. Instead, the film crew waited at a naval base until a submarine was actually put to sea and pursued it in a boat and helicopter.
Back in the day, photos were captured on film, taken in or mailed off to be developed and printed, and 35mm camera users were left with 24 photos. Out of those 24, I typically chose maybe 5 per roll to put in a scrapbook, add to a frame, or show to family and friends. All the others went into shoe boxes that were stored in a closet.
Today, everything is digital.
Instead of boxes and boxes of printed rejects, we have gigabytes of digital content we can’t seem to part with. For example, while I like the photos below, I probably wouldn’t have wasted the cost of film and development on them – but with phone and DLSR cameras, I’ll snap and save them in digital format.
Managing all this digital content requires subscriptions to cloud data.
If you take a lot of photos, your allowed space (no matter if it’s iCloud or Google) fills up fast. You’re left with either deleting images, backing them up on your computer to free up room, or paying for more storage.
And to think, I still have digital backups on floppy discs.
Floppy discs stopped being used in the early 2000’s — no way to access the contents now. If I’d have stuck with shoeboxes, I’d still have whatever memories that are now lost. Ever wonder what the next big thing will be? 🙂
Now you know: The USS Niagara was intentionally sunk in 1820 for preservation, and raised 93 years later for restoration.
UPDATE 7/19/24: All the heat Apple took from haters regarding “back door” access for law enforcement, and it was just released that the shooter was using a newer Samsung phone. So it was Android and not Apple OS after all. It was cracked by the FBI using unreleased software provided by Cellebrite Software, founded by an Israeli company. (More info here.)
Not gonna’ lie, I’ve been soaking in information like Sponge Bob since the assassination attempt on former President Trump. Drudge Report, X, Fox, and CNN for quick details — and then I mosey on to AP, Reuters, and BBC, because I prefer my news to be unbiased.
A non-political viewpoint of the assassination attempt.
You don’t get your world news from here and my opinion is only worth one vote… mine. I’m not going to point fingers in blame or get political here. What I will share is my opinion that many of today’s news outlets just can’t seem to tell the truth when it doesn’t align with their political agenda. In the rush to be first and gain attention, it doesn’t seem to matter if the reporting is accurate.
Sadly, in today’s world, you must fact check the fact checkers. For example, if you’re getting all your news from CNN, here’s just one instance showing why you should vary your outlets of info:
You can’t believe everything you read or hear (duh)…
Just like the “journalist” that created the headline in the photo above, (that should be out of a job by now), there are others wanting the spotlight that will take it a step further. From using AI to put smiles on the faces of secret service members — to crazy ridiculous conspiracy theories — some will do anything to get noticed or make the facts align with their own agendas.
I toss around all kinds of opinions here at home. You probably do the same. I think about what the assassination attempt would’ve looked like if it were Biden instead of Trump — and often share my thoughts with family and friends. Oh yah… I’m armchair quarterbacking… I’m just not blabbing it on social media. 😉
If you do want to share your opinions, please don’t blame the innocent.
Those blaming Apple for not unlocking the shooter’s phone for law enforcement — and there are a bajillion people doing just that — are uniformed. The shooter used an iPhone that law enforcement desperately wants to access. Of course, it would be wonderful to get all that hidden info.
But if a device has a backdoor to let the ‘good guys’ gain access, it’s not encrypted — and Apple refuses to break their end-to-end encryption. They’ll turn over all data from the cloud servers, but they simply can’t decrypt a device without either the user’s passcode, FaceID, or fingerprint.
There’s more to come, for sure.
As more info is dribbled to the public, please don’t rush to judgement or believe everything you see and read on the Internet. And for goodness sakes… please don’t point blame at the innocent.
Now you know: In 2014, a man armed with a knife entered The White House by hopping a fence and running through an unlocked door despite the President being there just minutes before.
Katie’s birthday was yesterday (happy birthday, Katie!), and I talked to her on the phone for a bit. She was telling me about almost having a panic attack. She took off in her car only to realize too late she’d forgotten her phone at home, and she wasn’t exactly sure of her destination’s location.
When she lost sight of the person she was following, she basically flipped her shit. 🤪
I’m so old I remember…
Everyone kept a map in their car’s glovebox. You’d plan your route and do your best to memorize the trip. If, while on your travels, you weren’t sure where to turn or go next, you’d pull over to consult your map.
As time progressed, there was MapQuest. Those with computers could plan their travel route and print the driving directions before ever leaving home.
Trip complete, Katie found her phone.
Katie’s lifestyle has drastically changed since she moved to Tennessee. She’d left her phone with the mules she watered before leaving. 🙂
Now you know: It is estimated that medical errors is the 3rd leading cause of U.S deaths, causing up to 250k deaths yearly.
