I love to laugh at real photos made into something else — like a different scene, clothing, or style. You might remember the pirate selfies I created via AI and shared, but my latest endeavor is funnier by far.
I started with ChatGPT and an image of family from Thanksgiving.
With Christmas rapidly approaching, I thought it would be awesome for all of us to be dressed like elves. I asked ChatGPT to only edit the clothes and the background. I typed a full paragraph of nothing but verbiage instructing the app NOT to alter anything at all with faces — they should be kept pixel perfect. The result?
And then I laughed and laughed and sent the photo to my favorite brother. He said, “Oh man — I can’t get my breath because I’m laughing so hard. Poor Mom looks like one of those women that they interview who spent their life in prison.“
Next, I gave ImagineArt a go at it…
While a whole lot better, the image below did require some of my PhotoShop love. I pulled Mom’s face from another photo and added it, and made Colette’s arms the same length (one looked like it belonged on a Tyrannosaurus Rex). Oh! And Perry had 2 arms on one side of his body. 🙄
And finally, I turned to Grok Imagine for the grand finale…
Mom playing her dog like an air guitar makes me laugh every single time I watch it.
Let’s talk about the AI Bubble…
The term “AI bubble” refers to the concern that today’s massive investment and hype around artificial intelligence could resemble past speculative bubbles—most famously the dot-com bubble—where valuations outpaced real economic value.
The concerns stem from gains and explosive stock market growth that are largely driven by AI expectations, not traditional product growth. In addition, there’s HUGE capital spending and customer demand isn’t scaling fast enough. Do you know of any large company, device, news organization or social media platform that isn’t using it?
What do you think? Will we see a “burst” — just a bubble deflated — or do you see AI increasing in demand and value?
Now you know: For a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame there is a $85000 fee plus an application process.
We did an Embark DNA test on starving puppy, Hugo, about a year ago. We knew by looking at him that he had some pit running through him — a breed I said I’d never own.
Doggie DNA tests are fun!
When owners test their dogs through Embark and have DNA in common with Hugo, we’re sent an email along with photos.
I had to look up where Mango was from and found that Hvalsø is a town and a former municipality (Danish) on the island of Zealand in east Denmark. It certainly offers no clue to who might’ve dumped our little guy, but it makes me wonder how his new found relatives were acquired. With a name like Frank Furter, I wish his owner in Tennessee would’ve shared a photo.
Neither of the new relatives’ photos resemble Hugo at all!
While doggie DNA tests are fun, sharing your DNA might not be wise.
While having your own DNA test for ancestry purposes might be interesting and fun — it’s probably not a great idea. DNA testing companies store your genetic data which could be vulnerable to breaches or misuse. Having your data shared with third parties without clear consent, like insurance companies or law enforcement, is also a concern. And if that’s not enough, your genetic data is used in research or by third parties for medical and behavioral studies.
I’ll just stick to doggie DNA. I don’t even want to know if I have some new relative living in some place I’ve never heard of.
Doggie DNA tests are a great gift!
When talking to my friend, Julie, I told her about Hugo’s new relatives and how a DNA test might be a good gift for her daughter, who recently got a shelter dog. She took my advice… but also bought 2 of her own kits for her 2 rescue dogs. Now I’m almost as excited to see her results as I was waiting for Hugo’s to come back.
In the meantime, care to take a guess at the results of her oldest rescue, Opal?
The Embark brand is the only one I have experience with and they’re currently on sale for $89 bucks.
Now you know: The Microraptor had four wings with fully feathered arms and legs for gliding. This flight setup doesn’t exist in any species alive today. It lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 120 million years ago.
X (formerly Twitter) recently rolled out a county of origin feature. Currently, the only way you can see the account’s country is by clicking their “about this account” section, but there’s speculation that X may add a country flag similar to the blue verification checkmark beside each account’s name in the future.
Why the country of origin feature is GREAT!
The concept centers around the need to boost transparency and combat misinformation, using data like IP addresses and/or App Store connections. Foreign accounts posing as conservatives, liberals—even Native Americans—are driving division and manipulating opinions and even voters. The Planned Parenthood account that posts like crazy trying to garner support from Americans? They’re located in Germany.
It’s like when I tell you this is a photo I found on Zillow of the only bathroom in a house for sale in the US, you wouldn’t know it’s in my hometown. The writing over the sink’s mirror in English reveals that much. 😳
Why the country of origin feature isn’t so great…
Determining country of origin requires collecting and processing location-related data (e.g., IP addresses). Users worry about how this data is stored, used, or potentially shared with third parties. The feature’s reliance on IP data can be skewed by VPNs (virtual private networks that hide location), leading to incorrect country labels. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic, hiding your online activities from ISPs, hackers, and surveillance — and most offer US as an option. (That means bad actors outside the US could still appear as located here when they aren’t.)
This raises concerns about misidentification or assumptions about a user’s location, potentially affecting their online credibility or exposing their VPN use, which some rely on for anonymity.
Just my opinion:
Dharma isn’t trying to pretend she’s a Chihuahua to sow discontent among other dog breeds or influence their opinions.
User accounts on social media shouldn’t be able to pretend to be something/somewhere they’re not just to stir shit either. This certainly isn’t a perfect fix… but it’s better than nothing.
The only information revealed about me by X is my country. The USA is a pretty big place and I don’t feel exposed when they share that detail. Legitimate accounts shouldn’t be alarmed that their location is pinpointed to a COUNTRY, should they? Currently, there’s no way to fully opt out and many don’t like that — but they can opt to change their country to a region making it even harder to locate the account’s owner.
My account has a blue check mark and I say bring on the country flag — I’m good with that too — and proud to be an American. If you’re tore down about your country of origin being exposed, you MIGHT be concerned because your intent is nefarious. If you hate it that much — simply delete your account.
What say you?
Now you know: In 2024 an Austrian neurosurgeon was fired after she let her 13-year-old daughter drill a hole into a patient’s skull during a surgery. Although the surgery was a success, one other specialist was also fired, and at least five other people involved in the procedure were investigated.
My activity goal is to walk about an hour a day on the treadmill — 30 minutes in the morning and 30 more in the evening. While walking, I watch some series on PrimeTV so I think about something other than boring movement… currently I’m about to finish “Bosch: The Legacy.”
I’ve watched Prime Video selections while walking for years now and I’ve noticed they’re sharing more and more ads. Just like people around here are seeing more and more smoke from our boiler as a sign of outside temperatures dropping, the huge increase of Prime Video ads is obviously a sign of something.
It’s currently the 5 minute: 2 minute 47 second rule.
I walk for 5 minutes and then get ads for 2 minutes and 47 seconds. Another 5 minutes and the ad time is a bit shorter. But after the next 5 minutes, it’s back to 2 minutes and 47 seconds.
I’m guessing it’s because they now offer an ad-free plan for an additional $2.99/month.
I held out until today and then grudgingly caved. I waste more than $3.00/m on stupider stuff and I’ve memorized every advertisement they’ve thrown at me. For the record, I haven’t purchased a single thing from any ad.
Now my brain is on a rampant conspiracy theory loop.
More ads so we pay not to see them. Next, my Oura ring started losing charge life about the same exact time they came out with a new model. Coincidence? Maybe… but my Apple Watch did basically the same thing before I gave in a bought a new one.
What’s NOT a conspiracy is that the older you get the more important exercise is to your body. You can’t convince me otherwise. I took several weeks away from my trusty treadmill to instead sit in my computer chair and work. The result is that I feel like I aged 10 years in that length of time. My hips hurt, my knees hurt, and my back ESPECIALLY isn’t in great shape again.
I’m back to my routine — and today I won’t have Prime Video serving me ads constantly.
Walking is an exercise anyone can do no matter how old you are. While it’s hard to get motivated to start a routine of daily exercise, it does get easier once it’s habit. In just over a week of daily walking and stretching, I’m sleeping better (because my stiff, old joints aren’t hurting all night), and even my heart rate is getting back to normal.
Today is a great day to start a new exercise routine… no matter how old — or young — you are.
Now you know: Studies show that exercise consistency matters more than intensity for health benefits.
About 7 years ago, I bought a coffee table from Wayfair that was “solid wood.” It was expensive enough to be solid wood and even looked like solid wood. That is… until baby Merida chewed the bottom shelf and exposed pressed wood under the veneer. Do your own search online and you’ll find that “solid wood” means it’s solid glued sawdust from wood at least 90% of the time.
No false advertising here!
Today I’m just going to give my honest reviews of a few products/services you might want to try, because if you’re like me, you have certain items that you buy and no generic will do. Of course, many others have their favorites on those same products that are different from my hard line choices. For example, the Pesky Neighbors swear by Dean’s Cottage Cheese (my least favorite brand), while I’m team Prairie Farms.
When my friend, Julie, told me Hellman’s mayo wasn’t nearly as good as Duke’s, I had to see for myself if she was right. Off to Sam’s Club to pick up a jar of Julie’s mayo…
Here are a few of my favorites — do you align with my choices?
Stick with Hellman’s. Hellman’s is sweeter and milder. Duke’s has a pronounced tart tang.
Red Gold ketchup. While most of you will say Heinz is the way to go, it’s sweeter with less tomato taste.
Eckrich bologna & smoked sausage. Oscar Mayer doesn’t hold a candle to Eckrich compared to these 2 products.
Just Bare Chicken. Both the bites and strips are lightly breaded… perfect on salads or stand alone.
StarKist Tuna in water. Get back Chicken of the Sea and other brands… no generic will do for me.
Athletic shoes… Hoka, Brooks, and On (in that order). No Walmart tennis shoes for this girl.
Technology devices — Apple. While I use many other brands of technology (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Android, etc.), if I could only have one, it would be Apple.
Streaming service — currently, YouTube TV. Again, I have other streaming services including Prime Video, Discovery, Netflix and more, but if I could only have one, it would be YouTube TV.
Fast food burgers and fries — Culver’s. I like McDonalds, Steak n’ Shake and others, but Culver’s is my current favorite.
Local news — The Crothersville Times.
AI image generator — ChatGPT is currently in the lead.
And finally, the best view of the sky — Crothersville, IN.
Now you know: The Crothersville Times is the largest newspaper in Jackson County, Indiana. Each year in October newspapers are required to submit and publish their statement of ownership and circulation with the US Post Office. This year, 2025, the Seymour Tribune reported their circulation at 1,730. For the same time period the Crothersville Times reported circulation of 1,880.
