@tsturm@famichiki.jp
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

tsturm

@tsturm@famichiki.jp

Programmer, photographer and writer. Now go outside and look at the sky.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

joesteel, to random
@joesteel@duck.haus avatar

Shy Kids has constructed two short films for OpenAI where it uses “VFX+Sora” with accompanying breakdowns of the source Sora output, and what they did to make the video clips “work” in their montage narrative. If you’re doing this much work to prop up the output, and it still looks bad, then what the hell is the point? To say nothing of how tone deaf it is to showcase this during a huge VFX industry downturn. Bananas that they’re proud of this.

https://youtu.be/mQG7vN8UYLU

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@joesteel I was just about to ask this - their end result would be way easier to achieve by starting with two real actors and just replacing the head with a balloon.

kravietz, to Russia
@kravietz@agora.echelon.pl avatar

Today #Russia and #China play best friends forever and #USSR had been traditionally placed in the same “communist” basked as China. Some fun facts that especially tankies are getting completely wrong today.^1

Since 1950’s China and USSR were actually conflicted over each other’s interpretations of #Marxism and in 1960’s the conflict nearly escalated into a full-scale nuclear war between the two countries.

China criticised CPSU (Communist Party of Soviet Union) over Soviet invasion of #Czechoslovakia (1968)^2 and “Brezhnev Doctrine” which denounced any Marxism version outside of the Soviet one as “reactionary” (Marxist newspeak for “heresy”). This included both Czechoslovak reforms and Mao’s Cultural Revolution in equal manner. At that time China actually developed complex relations with Eastern Bloc countries such as Romania and Czechoslovakia behind Kremlin’s back.

Essentially, everyone called each other “reactionary” and claimed their Marxism is the correct one. Any resemblance to past religious wars is entirely incidental. 😉 In 1968 Chinese diplomat Zhou Enlai speaking in Romanian embassy in Beijing called Soviets for “fascist politics, great power chauvinism, national egoism and social imperialism”.^3

Does that ring any bells? 😉

Soviets and China had a number of unresolved border issues in Manchuria. In 1968 China started escalating these, actually killing Soviet border guards. Moscow, knowing of China’s nuclear weapons and Mao’s confrontative attitude preferred to deescalate… which only encouraged Chinese.

Does that remind anything from contemporary history? 😉

At the peak of the conflict in 1969 USSR found itself in the position of a country with high-tech army challenged by a low-tech army which relied on millions of conscripts and human wave tactics.

Does this ring any bells? 😉

In 1969 Soviet army managed to push back overwhelming several Chinese offensives near the island of Zhenbao in spite of their overwhelming numbers with ratios up to 1:10 Soviet to Chinese. That was possible primarily due to the technical advantage, such as then-advanced T-62 tanks.

A ceasefire was signed in 1969 - on Chinese side by the very same Zhou Enlai who called Soviets “fascists” only a year before, but the actual peace agreement was only signed in 1991. The conflict was only completely resolved in 2008 (!) when Russia ceded 340 km² of the disputed lands to China.

As you can see, contrary to the mythology carefully constructed by modern “geopolitical realists”, there’s nothing constant in Russian or Soviet policies. Russia can not always win armed conflicts, it can cede territories and in general conflicts can be won in spite of imbalance of power. Oh, and calling others “fascists” was used by everyone and Russia was both an user and a recipient of this nomination.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@kravietz Can confirm that the border between China and the USSR in 1989 looked like a war could break out at any minute. I crossed from Zabaikalsk to Manzhouli on the Transsiberian and I'd call the atmosphere at the border at that time... tense. Lots of soldiers on both sides, pillboxes and razorwire fencing on every hill on both sides.

As of what China is doing with Russia right now, my guess is that China wants a chunk of Siberia. Global Warming will force China to go north.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@rameshgupta @kravietz China looks at Russia being stuck in Ukraine’s bear trap as an opportunity. They don’t need Russia to win, they need Russia to be distracted.

All of eastern Siberia will be prime real estate once the permafrost has thawed out in about 30-50 years. And at the same time much of southern and eastern China will be frequently flooded and too hot to be livable. This is not hard to figure out.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@rameshgupta @kravietz That sentence was not a slight against you - I apologize.

But the fact stands - China will need to expand north for food production as the southern provinces are getting hotter and more flood prone. Siberia is right there and Russia will be weakened for decades after whatever they are trying to achieve in Ukraine.

virtualbri, to scifi
@virtualbri@mastodon.online avatar

https://youtu.be/RU1QyAYa60g

Any sci-fi trying to do something different gets my attention. Francis Ford Coppola self-financing his story for sure gets my attention.

I'm intrigued.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@virtualbri That trailer looks wild. It's one of those movies that will either magically work or fail in a spectacular and extremely colorful way.

Adam_Cadmon1, to random
@Adam_Cadmon1@mastodon.online avatar

That Blender is completely free is amazing.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@Adam_Cadmon1 Yes! It’s such an amazing tool. And it has an incredible amount of features… I find new things it can do even after years of using it..

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

I think today's a good day to watch "Goldfinger" again. Of course, any day is a good day to watch Goldfinger again.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@lauren It’s a true classic, ageless and at the same time aged like a fine wine.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@lauren Gert Froebe was so good as the villain. He really gave us a prototype for all future movie villains.

djsundog, to random
@djsundog@toot-lab.reclaim.technology avatar

what's your favorite weird, non-conventional, absurd, sketchy, or otherwise interesting group of folks you ended up involved with, and what makes it your favorite?

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@djsundog The FidoNet community of the early 1990s. We had a fully community-funded global network over phone lines with world-wide and regional discussion groups. I ended up being one of the moderators of one of these global groups and it was exhilarating to exchange messages with people from around the world within 48-72 hours.

It was actually a very similar feeling to hanging out on Mastodon, but 35 years ago. 😊

benjancewicz, to random
@benjancewicz@mastodon.social avatar

More Cybertrucks for sale daily and they are not selling.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@benjancewicz LOL

Adam_Cadmon1, to random
@Adam_Cadmon1@mastodon.online avatar

If you had never seen a camera before and had no idea of the concept what would you call a camera lens?

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@MattMerk @Adam_Cadmon1 Or, if one assumes a pre-telescopic society stumbling over a time traveler with a camera, they might call it an eye.

tsturm, to random
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

The desktop wallpapers provided in OSX were too low-energy for me today... and then I realized I can make some in Blender. Not sure why I never thought of this before...

Here, in case someone else needs fresh wallpaper. 😊

FlockOfCats, to random
@FlockOfCats@famichiki.jp avatar

Second poop of the day. Always underpromise and overdeliver!

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@FlockOfCats 😁

davidaugust, to random
@davidaugust@mastodon.online avatar

If I wanted to buy TikTok, how many supreme court justices do you think it would cost me?

Like if I bought the justices who have been bought from their current owners, could I then trade them for a controlling interest in TikTok?

Congress would be ok with it, because congress doesn’t care who owns justices.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@davidaugust Supreme Court Justices are actually surprisingly affordable, some of them can be had for the price of a large RV and a few flight tickets. They are very collectible though, so current owners might hesitate to sell, no matter what the offer.

tsturm, to random
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

I mean, who among us hasn't met Kim Jong Un?

ifixcoinops, to random
@ifixcoinops@retro.social avatar

Damn I love trash night

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@ifixcoinops Oh wow - nice catch. That looks like a perfectly fine bike.

ramsey, to random
@ramsey@phpc.social avatar

What’s up with 19.2 fl oz beer cans? I mean, I like the size, but it’s not an even amount of anything. It equates to 567.81 ml.

Yes, I know American units are wonky, but sometimes they’re weird because they actually equal to an even metric number. For example, they sell 16.9 fl oz water bottles because that’s a half liter.

So, what gives on the 19.2 fl oz / 567.81 ml measurement for these tall cans?

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@ramsey It probably is an even divider to a football field.

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

Welp, looks like the next global pandemic just dropped: https://www.etvbharat.com/en/!state/jharkhand-two-doctors-six-others-quarantined-amid-bird-flu-outbreak-in-ranchi-enn24042801155

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@angusm @cstross That article also shows in rather careful undertones that nobody in charge wants to mass-test the herds. Better not upset the agribusiness donors. What a giant shitshow only four years after Covid. We’ve learned nothing.

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@simon_brooke @angusm @cstross The lets-not-test issue is - predictably - happening with the giant agro-businesses in the US. Pretty sure that farmers in the UK and the EU are testing, at least for the basics.

tsturm, to random
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

This is pretty cool: Astroscale's first spacecraft has approached a abandoned rocket stage in a 600km orbit for testing of de-orbit operations in the future. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68903801

tsturm, to random
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

Well, this doesn’t sound great. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/opinion/bird-flu-cow-outbreak.html

joesteel, to random
@joesteel@duck.haus avatar

(Walks into the sea)
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/why-you-cant-get-a-restaurant-reservation

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@joesteel Whatever place this app recommends I don't want to be seen in.

dan, to random
@dan@duck.haus avatar

We did it. We fixed the Oscars. You're welcome.
https://mastodon.social/@defocused/112300487201895056

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@dan @joesteel Would love to hear your opinions about Godzilla-1.0 - enjoyed your discussion on The Creator in the previous podcast and was surprised it didn't win at the Oscars. For me, Godzilla is the better movie of the two, but The Creator was much more SFX heavy.

It seems Godzilla won because of how much was done with a very small budget in some sort of industry vote against the way SFX is (mis-)used/valued in Hollywood.

lmc, to random
@lmc@mastodon.social avatar

They're making announcements at Jack London Amtrak station that there's a system wide delay (I don't think 🤞 my train is affected) that because of a stuck drawbridge, wondering where that would be. also this is the closest I've ever been to missing a train (other than the time we missed our stop and were carry-bys).

#Amtrak #CoastStarlight #Tågskryt

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@burritojustice @jef @lmc I once spent an afternoon watching Don Johnson standing on the roof of a cable car in North Beach going through a Nash Bridges scene over and over.

Looked totally realistic to me.

spaceflight, to Astronomy
@spaceflight@spacey.space avatar

🔭 is likely to be the fifth largest 📏 🪐 in the 🌌 https://www.independent.co.uk/space/nine-planet-solar-system-b2500389.html

tsturm,
@tsturm@famichiki.jp avatar

@spaceflight @nyrath I’m pretty confident that we’ll be messing this planet up to a point where even in a few million years it’s obvious we’ve been here.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • normalnudes
  • kavyap
  • GTA5RPClips
  • vwfavf
  • DreamBathrooms
  • mdbf
  • magazineikmin
  • Youngstown
  • ngwrru68w68
  • slotface
  • thenastyranch
  • ethstaker
  • khanakhh
  • rosin
  • megavids
  • InstantRegret
  • modclub
  • osvaldo12
  • anitta
  • everett
  • Durango
  • cisconetworking
  • cubers
  • Leos
  • provamag3
  • tacticalgear
  • tester
  • JUstTest
  • All magazines
    •