Randy Slavey

As much as I'm glad that the trend has died, I can't wait for the conversations with teenagers 10 years from now. "People used to anthropomorphize their vehicles." "Oh, you mean like cute little eyelashes on the headlights and button noses on the bumpers?" "Yeah! And testicles!" "Wait, what?!"

Anthropic's next model will be called Claude Epic. It will be 1.5x the price of the current and will require 1.75x more tokens to process because [reasons]. A not insignificant number of people will nonetheless set it as their default and, with zero measurable evidence, swear it's better.

Hey, Delta airlines, can we agree that, regardless of the structural necessity of the part, zip tying dangling shit on an airplane is not a great look?

These spam accounts are taking over Bluesky hobby feeds. Moderation needs to include the ability to block posts by keywords *in links*. @moderation.bsky.app

Typepad is shutting down. I have thoughts, but others have already said it better, so... Release the evergreen posts on why you should own your own blog! @scalzi.com @scott.hanselman.com

Guy outside 7-11 asked if I had a couple bucks for a drink. I handed him a five, and he quickly said, "it's not for alcohol". I replied, "Dude, buy what you want. Life can be shitty. Deal with it how you need to." He smiled and gave me a fist bump. What a wonderfully genuine human experience.

Describe a favorite movie in the most misleading way possible. Immortal superhero succumbs to his basest vices as he grapples with an eternity of loneliness.

Good art makes you ask questions. This mural has me asking all of them, mainly variations of, “What in the ever-loving fuck am I looking at?”

I think I'm finally calling it. Google (search) is dead (for me, at least). Ten google searches using various terms. Ten pages of results, all basically the same (paid ads or outdated "Top Ten" lists). Never found what I was looking for. One question on ChatGPT:

Movie you've watched more than six times using gifs. ("Hard mode" no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LoTR)

My new cookie jar. Craigslist free cottonwood log. Beeswax and mineral oil finish. #woodworking #woodturning

A decent man is a rare thing. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...

Sure, peeling the plastic off a new screen is great, but have you ever tried turning green wood with a freshly sharpened gouge? #woodworking #woodturning

Enjoying a leftover Thanksgiving ham sandwich, reveling in one of the unsung joys of adulthood: eating - or not eating - whatever you want whenever you want, whether that's a three-tiered birthday cake on a random Tuesday or shitty bird meat on the fourth Thursday in November.

Aspen log snowman. 12" tall. Beeswax finish. #woodworking #woodturning

Turned these two little oak Christmas trees as card cappers for the holiday poker season. Approximately 3" tall. #woodworking

I just saw a kid's birthday cake with the name "Kylo" written on it and an "8" candle, in case you needed a reminder today of how time flies.

People call this place an echo chamber. Echo chamber?! Ha! I'll have you know there are some #woodworking folks here who actually believe a box joint is superior to a half lap! Oh, you mean echo chamber as in, "notably devoid of forced engagement with shit people?" Yeah, it is a bit that.

"Express" toll lanes should have an SLA. 1% discount for every mile per hour traffic flows below the speed limit. A complete stop should be free for that toll segment.

The copilots will continue until morale improves

When I get an auto reply using the word, "thrilled," like, "We're thrilled to welcome you to our [mundane business task like time entry or expense reporting] online portal," I imagine five old accountants doing the Jonah Hill excited scream each time a new user logs in. It helps pass the day.

Turned this little Christmas tree to play around with adding dye to the finishing oil. Came out...okay. #woodworking #woodturning

Called out a vendor's sales rep for using a disability in a derogatory manner and got back the rare, "sorry if you were offended," and, "I have [disability] friends," both in the same single-sentence reply. Yep, drop all training. #dei has been solved.

Another spalted cottonwood fruit bowl. I'm getting better at consistent wall thickness. Oil and wax finish. #woodworking #woodturning

My new favorite piece. The grain in this cottonwood is just incredible. Chatoyance through the roof. Turned it over to wax it, and it even works great upside down (although had I known that, I would've put more effort into finishing the bottom) #woodworking #woodturning #turning

This 30" floor vase had the dubious distinction of being my favorite piece I've ever done...for all of maybe 4 hours. (See next post) Thanks, random Craigslist person who didn't chunk up your downed tree into firewood sized pieces before posting it for free. #woodworking #turning #woodturning

Crazy clouds in the Rocky Mountains this weekend. I can never remember what they're called, and I can't remember which author I follow is the cloud guy, @philplait.bsky.social or @scalzi.com

Another spalted cottonwood bowl. Enjoying being able to make larger items since getting my chainsaw. #woodworking #turning

Cottonwood bowl from dead tree. The inside looks like the Eye of Sauron. #woodworking #woodturning

I'm going to try Ghost for a while to publish some writing. Here's the first article. Not sure where this'll end up going, if anywhere, but I like the technology and their culture. #writing #parody #ghostblog www.sevpop.com/new-ai-enabl...

Walnut and maple candy bowl to keep my go-to oral fixation at hand throughout the workday. #woodworking #woodturning

Got a better photo of the weird cutting board pattern. #woodworking

Apparently, "Finish my story in the style of a Norm Macdonald joke," is a thing built into Copilot. #AI #Fail

I didn't get the ratios quite right on this walnut / maple / cherry 3D cutting board, so now it's a little disturbing to look at, like it almost wants to be 3D but falls just short. I kind of like the effect. #woodworking

@dustyfur.bsky.social you put a TV show in your profile, I'm gonna see if it's worth watching. ...okay, I'm sold. Is it streaming anywhere you know of? whattowatchon.tv/hustle-2004-...

New social media platform, new place to share my TV ratings website. Charts and lists and summaries galore! #dataviz and #television nerds rejoice! whattowatchon.tv/for-all-mank...

Walnut and Cherry coasters. I can't recommend enough one of these dowel maker plates. I was able to make tiny 3/16" dowels for attaching the supports in the holder. #woodworking

Made a small plant stand as a fun little scrap wood project. Leftover cedar fence for most of it except the bird nest, which was a scrap 2x4 I turned. The cedar really soaked up the glue and messed with the finish. #woodworking #scrapwood

de·re·al·i·za·tion [dēˌrē(ə)ləˈzāSHən] NOUN a state in which one feels that one's surroundings are not real. - Photo / video filters - Deepfakes - Sockpuppets - Machine-generated images and blogs - AI fabricating history If the whole world is fake, is it truly #derealization?

Reviving the old blog and decided to update my Google+ article from 2016.